What happened at the Champions League final?on May 30, 2022 at 3:29 pm

French authorities have blamed late arrivals and fraudulent tickets for chaotic scenes outside the Stade de France before Saturday’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid. But Liverpool fans who spoke to the BBC described organisational failures, overcrowding and heavy-handed policing.

Here is what we know so far about how events unfolded.

Tens of thousands of Liverpool supporters had gathered in the fan zone near Place de la Nation in south-west Paris by 13:00 local time (11:00 BST).

As early evening approached, those with tickets headed to the Stade de France in the north of the city ahead of the scheduled kick-off at 21:00.

Fans had been warned to get there early and Merseyside police, who had officers deployed as observers, would later describe the behaviour of most as “exemplary”, saying they arrived in plenty of time and queued as directed.

One of the train lines serving the stadium, the RER B, was not working, meaning many fans had to take the RER D. This meant they ended up at a single checkpoint at the perimeter outside the stadium.

The gates opened at 18:00 local time (17:00 BST) but Liverpool fan Suzanne Gower, who arrived at 18:15, told the BBC that crowds were already so big it took them 35 minutes to move 100 metres (328 feet) at this point.

The route from the Stade de France-St Denis RER stop to the stadium involves crossing two motorways, cramming fans into narrow underpasses.

Some fans said they were searched multiple times, further adding to the delays, while police vans blocked part of the route to funnel supporters towards a ticket stop. Liverpool fan Matt Lomas said he saw people without tickets turned away at this point, but it took two hours to move 40 yards.

Another supporter, Michael Carter, told the BBC that people further back in the queue “were lifting each other up and over the walls because they were being crushed”. By the time he got to the police barricade, there were “no ticket checks, they were just letting people through” – including local youths who had been trying to snatch fans’ bags and other possessions, he said.

Mr Carter said at one point, people at this checkpoint were doused indiscriminately in what was thought to be pepper spray, causing the crowd to stampede backwards and leaving some of them vomiting as others rushed for water from neighbouring bars to ease the pain.

Real Madrid fans on social media also reported long queues before kick-off, as well as disruption by local youths and an overwhelmed police force.

When they finally reached the gates, fans described more chaotic scenes. Mr Carter said people were being manhandled through the turnstile without their tickets being scanned as the crowd pressed in on them, while videos showed others trying to jump the barriers.

Gates X and Y, two of the main entrances for Liverpool fans, were closed altogether at one point, said BBC News reporter Nick Parrott, who was at the stadium as a fan. He said about 1,500 to 2,000 were waiting outside each gate.

Some people tried to get through gates A and B, but locals without tickets tried to force their way in at the same time, he said. He saw police punch one fan, who did not react, while using the spray on others.

“The safest place was to be in the ground, that’s why the fans were trying to get in so much,” Mr Parrott said. “The police just seemed to go after anyone who moved.”

Inside the stadium, Suzanne Gower had arrived with nearly two hours to go before kick-off. “The Liverpool side had no fans and the Madrid end was really full so you know something outside was happening,” she said.

Five minutes before kick-off was due, at 20:55 local time, Uefa announced that the start of the match was delayed “for security reasons” until 21:15. Inside the stadium, signs said the delay was “due to the late arrival of fans at the stadium”.

Then at 21:14 Uefa announced a further delay to kick-off. Eventually, the match got underway at 21:36.

Even then, there were many empty seats in the Liverpool end, with some fans reporting they were not able to get into the stadium until half-time.

Liverpool fans say police lined up in front of them before the final whistle – but ignored the Real Madrid supporters’ section.

Chaos erupted again when the exit gates were opened, with Mr Carter saying local youths rushed the gates, while police fired what appeared to be tear gas into the crowd.

French interior minister Gerard Darmanin said the disruption was due to “thousands of British ‘supporters’, without tickets or with counterfeit tickets” who “forced entry and sometimes assaulted the stewards”.

But Ms Gower, a lawyer who worked on the Hillsborough inquests, said: “The way this event was being policed was all wrong and incredibly dangerous.”