The chief of Paris Police has apologised for the use of tear-gas during the Champions League final and admitted the operation was a "failure".
Police Prefect Didier Lallement said he was "the only one responsible" for the disgraceful scenes at the Stade de France stadium in the Paris suburb of Saint Denis, where Liverpool and Real Madrid fans were brutalised by police and targeted by local criminals.
According to news agency Reuters, Mr Lallement told a parliamentary hearing this morning that the operation around the final was a "failure" both because fans were harmed and the "image of France was degraded". However the chief also appeared to mitigate the failure, saying: "But the match was held and there were no serious injuries or deaths."
READ MORE: Real Madrid statement confirms what we already knew about the disgrace of Paris
Since the final, thousands of Liverpool fans have shared harrowing stories of what they endured on May 28, including children being tear-gassed, dangerous failures of crowd control, criminal gangs operating with seeming impunity and brutality at the hands of the police charged with maintaining public safety.
French politicians have also come under heavy fire for trying to place at the blame at the door of innocent fans. In the immediate aftermath Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin made the immediately panned claim that around 40,000 fake tickets were in circulation amongst Liverpool fans, while his colleague, Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera, suggested that Reds supporters posed a "very specific" threat compared to their Spanish counterparts.
Those claims were later rowed back. Suggestions that the problems only affected the Liverpool contingent of fans were also flatly contradicted by those at the scene and then by Real Madrid officials, who released a statement demanding answers and describing how their fans had been assaulted and harassed.
Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, who attended the game, is due to give evidence to French senators later today.
