Sir, – I read with great interest Ken Early’s article about the chaos at Stade de France last Saturday night (“Uefa are lucky the Paris shambles did not have far worse consequences”, Sport, May 29th).
I can fully empathise with the Liverpool supporters, as we attended the France v Ireland Six Nations rugby game on February 12th and encountered the very same chaos, but at least the police did not revert to pepper spray or using their batons.
We travelled the same route as Ken Early did from the city, alighting at the RER station and, on seeing the magnificent stadium ahead, we expected a seamless entry.
How wrong we were. Having got as far as the outer concourse, we came to a standstill for over 40 minutes, with thousands of fans trying to go in opposite directions, and a total lack of any advice over a PA system.
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There was a man in a wheelchair very close to us and even though he had about six people assisting him with oxygen, etc, they were beginning seriously worry for his wellbeing. Eventually we got through the melee but we all agreed it was an accident waiting to happen and the consequences could have been fatal.
The defence from the French sports minister following last Saturday’s congestion lacked an understanding of the potential disaster he had just avoided.
Obviously a certain amount of fans will turn up without tickets but from our experience it was a situation which was always in danger of escalating. – Yours, etc,
ANDREW FitzGERALD,
Tralee,
Co Kerry.
