Questions have been raised as to why the CCTV was automatically removed from the chaos outside the Stade de France on the night of the Champions League final.

The footage, which apparently showed police spraying fans and families during last month’s game against Real Madrid, was not handed over to investigators and has now disappeared, French senators said. look at night management.

They demanded that the State take responsibility for what happened and identify those responsible for mishandling the crowds.

Security at the Stade de France appears to have been overwhelmed by the size of the crowd, leaving many fans waiting outside the pitch for hours.

French authorities initially charged what they said were between 30,000 and 40,000 English fans who they said turned up “without valid tickets”.

But in an attempt to understand what happened on the ground, Sky News geotagged several videos posted on social mediawhich showed fans channeled, climbing fences, and pepper-sprayed.

Kaveh Solhekol, Sky Sports News chief reporterhe was one of those gassed at the stadium.

The fiasco drew global attention to the heavy-handedness of French police and raised questions about how France handles security at big events. Liverpool FC has requested a “formal investigation” into the events.

Senator Laurent Lafon, who heads a commission seeking explanations for what happened, said: “The general impression of how the Champions League final unfolded is a lack of preparation, a lack of preparation ahead of time, a lack of response. during the events and questionable management after the fact.

“The seriousness of the events (…) requires a state response,” he said.

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He did not name any specific culprits, but noted that everyone responsible for handling the situation “failed at one time or another,” and that they all worked for the government.

The automatic deletion of surveillance video gives “the impression that there is no one responsible, and because there is no one responsible, there is no guilty party,” he said.

He and another senator spoke at the Stade de France to summarize the commission’s work so far. They did not directly address police brutality.

A senior government official tasked with issuing a report on what happened said security measures should have been adapted as crowds converged.

Questioned by senators, Michel Cadot called for exploring new means of crowd control in stadiums, such as mounted police and artificial intelligence systems to monitor and predict crowd movements, particularly in view of the 2024 Paris Olympics. .

shift the blame

The Paris police chief has admitted that the evening was a ‘failure’ But he and the interior minister maintain that the police were reacting to the presence of tens of thousands of fans without tickets or with false tickets near the stadium.

Witnesses and the mayor of Liverpool have disputed the French authorities’ account and say the French authorities are seeking to deflect blame.

UEFA is also investigating the incidents that marked one of the biggest matches in world sport.

Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 to win the final.