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35,000 ticketless or fake ticket holders at Champions League final, says federationSome 75,000 tickets were on offer for Saturday's final, the FFF said
AFP
Last Updated IST
Liverpool fans stand outside prior to the UEFA Champions League final football match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. Credit: AFP file photo
Liverpool fans stand outside prior to the UEFA Champions League final football match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. Credit: AFP file photo

The French football federation (FFF) said Tuesday that 35,000 people without tickets or with false tickets went to the Stade de France for the Champions League final.

The federation said it had deployed 1,650 security and ticketing staff "in anticipation of the possible presence of people without tickets or in possession of counterfeit tickets".

The staffing numbers were "25 percent higher than that of a sold-out home France match".

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Some 75,000 tickets were on offer for Saturday's final, in which Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0, the FFF said, adding that 110,000 people went to the Stade de France north of Paris, a number "based on information collected from various public and private operators".

"79,200 people took public transport, 21,000 the bus (fans, partners and UEFA invitees), 6,000 in taxis and with private drivers, and 4,100 in their own private vehicules," the FFF explained in a statement.

The FFF concluded that around the stadium, there were "35,000 extra people in possession of counterfeit tickets or without tickets" and they "caused public disorder by blocking the gates to the stadium and preventing some holders of real tickets from entering before the kick-off of the match scheduled for 9.00pm".

French Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin stated Monday that there had been 30,000 to 40,000 Liverpool fans with counterfeit tickets or without tickets outside the Stade de France.

Those numbers had been contested amid criticism from Liverpool and the British government of policing of the final.

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(Published 01 June 2022, 00:14 IST)