sport news French minister apologises to Liverpool fans for bringing back 'painful' ... trends now

France's sports minister has apologised to Liverpool supporters in a letter sent to the club after chaos marred the Champions League final, and admitted it may have reminded some of 'painful memories' of the Hillsborough disaster.

The match at the Stade de France in Paris was twice delayed and fans found themselves tear-gassed by police while they waited outside the ground.

In the aftermath, however, the French government attempted to blame the issues on Liverpool fans, who they claimed turned up holding counterfeit tickets.

But a 30-page report was commissioned by the French prime minister, and accepted that there were 1,644 fake tickets in the Liverpool contingent, and an overall total of 2,589. It has also blamed operational failures and poor signage for the fiasco.

Now, Amelie Oudea-Castera conceded there were 'several successive failures' by the authorities around the stadium, resulting in the distressing scenes. The stance represents a major shift, after the minister partly blamed Liverpool for the storm.

Indeed, she had told radio station RTL in the aftermath of the final that the Anfield club were guilty of struggling to organise their supporters properly, and also alleged there were 30,000 to 40,000 Reds fans without tickets around the venue. 

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner wrote to voice his 'utter disbelief' at the comments from Oudea-Castera, who has now issued an apology in her reply. 

Her letter, which has been seen by The Times, reads: 'First and foremost, I would like to sincerely apologise to the Liverpool fans whose evening was ruined. 

'We are conscious of the fact that many of them came from far away, often with their family and sometimes even young children, to support their team and attend a memorable game of football.

'We regret that some of them had to witness scenes that have no

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