Macron Demands 'Full Transparency' in Saturday's Clashes at Champions League Final

PARIS (Sputnik) - French President Emmanuel Macron has demanded "full transparency" about what happened at Saturday's Champions League final at the Stade de France, French governmental spokeswoman Olivia Gregoire said on Wednesday.

"The president of the republic was very clear: it is necessary to shed light on what happened, to have full transparency about what happened [during the Champions League match at the Stade de France] and as soon as possible," Gregoire said at a government briefing.

Gregoire noted that Macron "fully trusts" the head of the Interior Ministry Gerald Darmanin in this matter.

Earlier on Wednesday, French broadcaster BFMTV reported, citing a source close to the French leader that Macron rebuked the interior minister for not handling the situation with fans during the Champions League final soccer match. According to the broadcaster, the French leader "was furious.”

The final match was held at the Stade de France stadium in Paris on Saturday and ended with Real Madrid beating Liverpool with a score of 1:0. Hours before the beginning of the match, a large build-up of fans occurred at the stadium due to overcrowding and bottlenecks at turnstiles. Police fired tear gas at fans, which was reportedly unprovoked. The match started with a 37-minute delay.

On Monday, Darmanin said that about 70% of paper tickets for the Champions League final were fake, while French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera blamed Liverpool's fans and the Union of European Football Associations' (UEFA) decision to distribute hard copies of tickets for the unrest during the game on Saturday. The top French sports official added that 30,000-40,000 British fans came to the stadium either ticketless or with fake tickets.