UPDATE - Paris police chief takes responsibility for 'failure' of crowd management at Champions League final

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Shweta Desai

PARIS (AA) - Paris’ police chief on Thursday assumed full responsibility for the "failure" and chaotic scenes around last month’s Champions League finals and apologized for using tear gas on a crowd outside the stadium, including small children.

“I am the sole (person) in charge of the security in the Paris region … I, therefore, assume full responsibility for the police management of the day of Saturday, May 28,” Didier Lallement testified to a French Senate commission, while also praising the actions of police and the gendarmerie around the Stade de France that day, saying that “without them, a tragedy could have occurred.”

Francois-Noel Buffet, the commission’s head, pressed Lallement over a security breakdown before the kickoff of the showpiece football final between Real Madrid and Liverpool. “We saw the use of tear gas. Honestly, we don't understand. We need to understand,” he said.

- Regretting the use of teargas

Since the finals started 10 days ago, the law enforcement and security around the stadium have come under fire for dysfunction and crowd commotion that resulted in the match being delayed for 35 minutes.

Official ticket holders were stuck in queues for hours as the police fired tear gas in close proximity to the crowd, which included small children, as hundreds of supporters broke the security cordon and jumped the metal gates to enter the stadium.

Initially, authorities placed much of the blame on fans holding counterfeit tickets, or ticketless Liverpool fans.

But ultimately the disorganization raised embarrassing questions over France’s ability to host the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Lallement admitted to the day’s “failure,” saying he sees the events of that Saturday night “with the greatest lucidity.”

“People were pushed around or assaulted when we owed them security. The image of the country has been shaken,” he said.

He regretted the use of the teargas but said it was the only means available in the difficult moment to push back the crowd instead of charging at them.

“I think it would have been a mistake to charge people. Tear gas worked. I am well aware that people of good faith have been gassed, sometimes even families. I apologize on behalf of the Prefecture of Police, but there was no other way.”

- 30,000-40,000 ticketless supporters -- not accurate figure

One of the main reasons given by the sports and the interior minister for the breakdown of security was the barging of the 30,000-40,000 supporters of Liverpool football club without tickets or with fake tickets.

The number was since rejected by the British authorities and the French political parties in opposition, who disputed the figures and did not corroborate with the events on the ground.

Lallement acknowledged the vagueness over the veracity of the statistics saying it has simply emerged from the feedback of transport operators and he never claimed them to be accurate.

He also said the 30,000 to 40,000 supporters were obviously not at the gates of the stadium, alluding to the special zone set up by the Paris police at Cours de Vincennes street in the 12th arrondissement for up to 44,000 ticketless British supporters to watch the match on giant screens.

Yet, he admitted to having underestimated the large volume of fake ticket holders at the stadium because of which the automated gates remained blocked creating a hold-up for the actual ticket holders.

Strategic information on the massive use of counterfeit notes was missing, he said, adding that at the time of checking the tickets, authorities did not consider it criminal activity, believing that some supporters were tricked into buying counterfeit tickets.