3.1. Context
The case of France ’22, revealed a good example why ScenAn is so vital for sporting events, and ensuring the safety of all those involved in such events, avoiding negative incidents, or minimising their impacts when they do occur. The Champions League Final helf at the Stade de France on 28 May 2022, between Liverpool and Real Madrid, resulted in major complications. Hazardous crushes and risks to human health arose as a result of access restrictions, and many supporters were indiscriminately tear-gassed or pepper-sprayed by police. The debacle was catastrophic for France’s reputation, damaging it severely to a point that many questioned whether France was capable to deliver safe sporting events in the future, including the upcoming 2023 Rugby World Cup and 2024 Olympics. The core problems encountered in France ’22 related to people flows and crowd issues, which ultimately deteriorated into mayhem [
21].
Tens of thousands of Liverpool fans had traveled to the city, leading to growing restlessness due to massive congestion in the stadium’s surroundings [
22]. As a result of these congestion issues, the game started 35 min late. In an attempt to control the flow of people, the French police opted to use police buses [
23]. However, this approach had adverse effects in terms of public perception and legal implications. The use of police buses to restrict individuals’ movement was viewed as heavy-handed, impeding the freedom of innocent spectators and potentially escalating tensions within the crowd. Images and videos capturing these actions circulated widely, further tarnishing the image of the police and fueling public discontent [
24]. The police’s actions faced criticism for potentially infringing upon individuals’ rights, including the right to freedom of movement and peaceful assembly. Such actions could result in legal challenges and negative repercussions for the involved police force [
22].
At this juncture, the French authorities were embarrassed by the failure of people flows in and around the stadium, and some Liverpool supporters were also robbed or beaten by local criminals [
25]. The authorities increasingly blamed the fans as the incidents escalated, accusing them of entering with counterfeit tickets, which they claimed was the cause of overcrowding [
21]. This built on previously police reports that a handful of fans had procured false tickets and disrupted entrance to the stadium, causing a delay [
22]. The organisers, after initially attributing the delays to security difficulties, blamed fans for arriving late. The Liverpool end of the stadium was jammed with supporters who bought bogus tickets that did not work at the turnstiles, resulting in crowds building behind them.
French police launched unprovoked tear gas and pepper spray attacks on spectators as a large crowd gathered outside the stadium in the hours leading up to kick-off at 21:00 CET, with scores of arrests and hundreds of injuries. Many Liverpool fans who had purchased tickets could not enter the stadium until halftime (despite the delay), and fans were also attacked as they exited the Stade de France following the game. UEFA and several French politicians backed the repressive measures adopted by the security services, and Liverpool fans were smeared with accusations of unruly behaviour, and unlawfully entering the stadium with counterfeit tickets. There were 68 arrests associated with the Champions League Final, according to Paris police, and firemen treated 238 minor injuries, according to local media [
22].
In the aftermath, UEFA acknowledged that the police used tear gas to disperse supporters, and announced it would quickly evaluate these problems in collaboration with the French police and authorities, as well as the French Football Federation. In the meantime, Liverpool requested a formal investigation into the origins of these unacceptable concerns. The French authorities were under increasing pressure for seven days to investigate what the press had dubbed a failure [
25]. Gérald Darmanin, France’s Interior Minister, reiterated his claim that Liverpool fans had attempted to use 40,000 fake tickets, provoking outrage both at home and abroad. Many fans with legal tickets found that the scanners wouldn’t accept them as real, so even the figures were undoubtedly exaggerated. Early reports indicated that fewer than 3000 counterfeit tickets had been detected at the turnstiles [
26]. An investigation has been ordered by UEFA to figure out what went wrong and what happened so it could never happen again in the future [
21].
Laurent Lafon, a co-chair of the inquiry, told reporters at a press conference that these dysfunctions occurred at every level, not just during the implementation (during the game), but also during the preparations [
22]. Due to a transport strike, the stadium was not anticipating how and when supporters would arrive, and inadequate instructions were provided. Police checkpoints became pressure points, constraining the flow of people and exacerbating congestion.
The infamous event emphasised the importance of ScenAn and planning for any future events to avoid unnecessary damage to human health, property, or reputation and image of an organisation and country holding an MSE.
3.2. Investigation Outcomes
The French Senate’s Commission of Culture and Education [
27] issued a report on France ’22 in which they dubbed the debacle as “an inevitable fiasco”. Laurent Lafon, Co-President of the Commission, highlighted a sequence of shortcomings before the match, stating that authorities operated on their plans without much collaboration—and that there had been “failures” both “in the execution” and “planning” of the event. The French Senate questioned several key figures in the aftermath of the events, and the initial official narrative that essentially sought to blame Liverpool fans [
27]. These included the Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, and the Sports Minister, Amélie Oueda-Castéra, alongside officials from the French Football Federation, the Parisian public transportation agencies, and Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne, who was in attendance for the final. The report unequivocally denounced the initial attempts to blame fans, and acknowledged the systemic failure that had led to the events (i.e., poor S&S planning and responsiveness):
“It is unfair to have sought to blame Liverpool fans for the disturbances, as the Interior Minister did, to divert attention from the inability of the state to manage the crowds present adequately and to curb the action of several hundred violent and coordinated offenders” [
27].
Laurent Lafon, President of the Panel for Culture, and Francois Francois-Nol Buffet, President of the Commission for Legislation, apologised to the English supporters, and suggested that further hearings would be held soon. Lafon went into detail about the wild night, lamenting the “unusual severity” of the organisational flaws and the repercussions that “might have been tragic.” They noted that neither the French nor the English authorities could uncover the truth of the ticket fraud issues; the prevalence of petty crimes and antisocial behaviour increasing in the neighbourhood that day from 2 p.m. [
25].
According to Buffet, “the organisation of this event was the source of the major occurrences,” namely the way the movement of spectators into and out of the stadium was handled. He also chastised police head Didier Lallement for focusing on spectator management rather than the minor criminality that began outside the stadium about midday. The destruction of security footage from the Stade de France was also cited as a “serious error,” according to Lafont, who concluded that there was a sense that no one was taking responsibility for what happened, although everyone involved in the operation failed. All of the actors were linked to the State [
28].
The public were subjected to dangerous crowd control measures, tear gas, and baton charges from police, and legal action against the authorities. The Senators stated that they would like to speak with UEFA about the usage of paper tickets, having issued a request but not yet gotten a response from the governing body of European football, but it was clear that there was sufficient grounds for the French government to apologise comprehensively to Liverpool and Real Madrid fans [
25].
The outcome of the investigation showed that not only were the police not able to deal with large crowds, but they overreacted instead of trying to calm the situation, which led to a disproportionate and brutal response. It also led to the entire world criticising and questioning the ability of France to organise and host major international events, with grave implications for the 2023 Rugby World Cup and 2024 Olympics.
3.3. Recommendations for MSEs
The official report investigating the incident included 15 recommendations to avoid such problems in the future, including mandating event organisers to keep video surveillance photos for one month after the event, and making forgery-proof tickets mandatory [
27]. Some particular egregious breaches that occurred during France ’22 were adumbrated, as described below.
Many supporters arrived at the stadium with plenty of time to spare to pick up their credentials and get inside. People noticed the Police Nationale guiding people in any direction as they neared the stadium’s perimeter, and there did not appear to be any strategy. Four stewards were verifying tickets at the bottom of the ramp that hundreds of fans were using to enter the stadium’s main concourse. Soon after, cries could be heard. To move them out of the crowd, little toddlers were hastily lifted onto shoulders to ensure their safety. This unpreparedness put a lot of children at risk of harm or being trampled or kidnapped due to how crowded the approach ramp was. The four stewards in charge of checking tickets eventually became disrespectful and antagonistic towards fans, as one recalled:
“They’d been forced to scan hundreds of tickets between the four of them, and it was evident that they’d had enough. They just yelled ‘ticket,’ and if you didn’t have one for them to scan—or, like me, got an email from UEFA stating to get your accreditation—they were simply uninterested, even physically shoving individuals back into the mob.” [
25].
After the police arrived they erected barricades that hemmed in the crowds, followed by tear gassing, for no crime other than queuing to enter the stadium [
25].
The Police Nationale did not discriminate when it came to their targets, and men, women, and children were indiscriminately gassed [
24]. The police brutality against the fans caused outrage, prompting the Liverpool coach to demand a thorough investigation into the incident. France’s reputation as a signatory of the Saint-Denis Convention in 2016 was obliterated [
29]. The Convention represented the long development of MSE principles begun with the Heysel Stadium Spectator Violence Convention of 1985, in the aftermath of the Heysel Stadium disaster, although as the title implies, that was excessively focused on security rather than the entire administration of a large athletic event.
By 2011–2012, the Monitoring Committee had accepted 28 specific ideas to improve safety, security, and service at major athletic events. The Secretary of the Saint-Denis Convention, Paulo Gomes, discussed some of its key elements, which emphasised the need to coordinate processes and address all required standards in terms of safety, security, and service within athletic venues, with the three key concerns being pyrotechnics, any violent or other prohibited behaviour, and racist or other discriminatory behaviour. A separate article dealt with these issues outside of athletic arenas, and the need to cover the entire journey of the fans from their house to the city and stadium and back again was emphasised, including fan zones, as well as everything going on in the city centre and around the stadium [
29].
It also has an article on emergency and contingency planning to deal with any incident that may occur inside or outside the stadium. For the first time, this Convention emphasised the need for dialogue and trust between public authorities, namely the police, supporters’ organisations, and local communities and companies. An article on police operations and strategy adumbrated best practices for policing football events, such as the importance of intelligence gathering, dynamic risk assessment, risk-based police officer deployment, and, perhaps most significantly, proportionate police intervention to minimise escalation of danger or disruption. It is necessary to intervene proportionately, which evidently did not occur in France ’22. As a final step, evidence should be collected and shared with the appropriate authorities for prosecutions [
29].
MSE S&S is all about worldwide collaboration in international matches, and it is critical that sports authorities and police exchange experiences and information. There is a European network of National Football Information Points (NFIPs), one in each member state, that allows the exchange of police information. Spanish and British counterparts in the NFIPs must have provided essential police information to the French police in Saint-Denis so they could plan and prepare for the policing of this event. During the weeks before the final, the Spirit of Shankly fans’ organisation collaborated extensively with Liverpool, Football Supporters Europe, and Merseyside police on fan safety, which is particularly poignant given the tragic history of Liverpool Football Club in this regard, but UEFA and the French authorities ignored their collaboration efforts [
29].
This incident had a major global impact, and the Council of Europe officially contacted the French authorities to consider the lessons learned at its next meeting. More impacts could be seen through the trauma this inflicted on people [
29]. The police’s action could not only have harmed people but the event and property, with potential for massive insurance claims and financial losses. Macroeconomic impacts could be experienced by France, which could see its tourism industry reducing due to potential tourists looking at videos about the chaos or reading or watching media covering the event detailing how brutal the police were to fans. The police officers themselves could lose their jobs due to their malpractice and attempted cover-up. The most important impact could be the damage to international relations, especially in terms of the humiliation and disgrace suffered by France (and, by extension, Europe in general) due to such disgusting treatment of innocent football fans at a MSE of global importance and interest.