Hundreds of Liverpool fans have been unable to get into Stade de France in Paris for the Champions League final, despite having tickets.
The stadium’s security processes appeared to have been overwhelmed by the crowd numbers, leaving many fans waiting outside the ground for hours.
The beginning of the match between Liverpool and Real Madrid was delayed for 37 minutes, with fans being blamed for arriving late to the stadium.
But many of those who were queueing outside said they had tickets and had arrived in what should have been plenty of time.
Fans outside the stadium held their tickets in the air as they told Sky News: “We still don’t know what’s going on – we have no idea.”
Another said: “It’s absolutely shambolic. The French, their organisation, and UEFA, it’s just horrendous.”
One fan told the Press Association: “This will be pinned on us, but it’s nothing to do with us.
“There’s hundreds here causing trouble, they’re not even for the game – it’s chaos.”
Some fans finally managed to get into the ground at half-time.
Sky Sports News – live blog: Liverpool battles Real Madrid for Champions League title
Supporter Colm Lacey told the Associated Press that he had seen “children crying, people trapped” outside the entrances.
“People started jumping the queue, then they ripped the gate open and then there was a push,” he added.
Police officers with batons and riot shields ran from gate to gate to prevent groups of fans forcing their way into the stadium without showing tickets and officers used tear gas on fans repeatedly.
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Sky correspondent James Matthews is at the game and said: “It was Liverpool’s biggest night of the season but, whatever happened on the pitch, it was a shambles off it.
“The kick off may have been delayed but, even as it approached half-time, several hundred Liverpool fans were still queuing to get in.
“Many of them showed us their tickets and told how they’d been waiting for more than two hours to gain entry. This, after a long and expensive journey to get here.
“Big football occasions attract large numbers of ticketless opportunists and there was clearly a police effort to weed them out.
“It meant that large groups of supporters were caught up in a robust policing operation that saw groups of officers in riot gear conducting chases around the stadium concourse and using irritant spray and tear gas.
“Liverpool fans were caught up in the chaos and had to endure the irritant – the choice was to run or lose a place in the queue.
“All this on European club football’s biggest occasion – a night which was, for too many, the showpiece that showed football at its worst.”
Liverpool FC said in a statement: “We are hugely disappointed at the stadium entry issues and breakdown of the security perimeter that Liverpool fans faced this evening at Stade de France.
“This is the greatest match in European football and supporters should not have to experience the scenes we have witnessed tonight.
“We have officially requested a formal investigation into the causes of these unacceptable issues.”
UEFA said: “In the lead-up to the game, the turnstiles at the Liverpool end became blocked by thousands fans who had purchased fake tickets which did not work in the turnstiles.
“This created a build-up of fans trying to get in. As a result, the kick off was delayed by 35 minutes to allow as many fans as possible with genuine tickets to gain access.
“As numbers outside the stadium continued to build up after kick off, the police dispersed them with tear gas and forced them away from the stadium.
“UEFA is sympathetic to those affected by these events and will further review these matters urgently together with the French police and authorities, and with the French Football Federation.”
