Paris police chief quits “hurt by the failure” of the Champions League final

Didier Lallement, the Paris police chief who was in command of the city on 28 May, when the Champions League final was held at the Saint-Denis Stadium, quit his post on Thursday. Lallement was in charge of the high-risk police operation that was deployed on the day of the final and that resulted in hundreds of incidents with the fans from both of the finalists, Real Madrid and Liverpool. Lallement was the one who gave the order for Liverpool fans, including women, children and the disabled, to be beaten and sprayed with tear gas.

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Lallement assures that his departure is not directly related to the events in Saint-Denis, since he himself has taken it upon himself to apologize that he had announced that he would retire this summer before his 66th birthday on 27 August. The final won by Real Madrid was overshadowed by the events with the fans of both teams before the match.

Both sets of supporters were victims of assaults and pickpocketing but the treatment which Liverpool fans were subjected to was particularly worrying - videos showed police charging fans, spraying them with tear gas - only adding to the fans’ anguish of being denied entry to the final with their tickets, even though they were perfectly valid.

Gerald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior of France, praised Lallement for his work and confirmed that he will be replaced by former Assistant Minister of the Interior Laurent Núñez. “The President of the Republic, at my proposal, appointed Prefect of Police to Laurent Núñez”, announced Darmanin.