A nine-year-old Liverpool fan was left in tears after French police pepper-sprayed his dad.
Lifelong Red Carl Clemente, 38, and his nine-year-old son Colley Clemente were at the Liverpool vs Real Madrid Champions League final match when they were caught up in a 'disturbance' near the stadium. Distressing scenes outside the Stade de France saw French police use tear gas on elderly fans and children.
Carl and Colley left the stadium to catch a taxi from a nearby hotel following the game at around 1am local time. Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Carl said: "As we were walking to the hotel I saw three or four Liverpool fans.
"They said, 'Don't go that way, the police are pepper spraying fans'. In hindsight I should have turned round but I didn't make much of it so I just carried on walking towards the hotel and past the police. I felt intimidated walking past the police, no smile, no hello..."
As Carl approached the hotel, he said there was a disturbance between what appeared to be locals and the French police.
He said: "The disturbance wasn't to do with Madrid fans or Liverpool fans. What I saw was groups of young lads from Paris having a go at the police and charging the police There was about two or three groups, about 20 or 30 of them, and they were the ones causing trouble.
"They were throwing things at the police and then the police charged and used pepper sprays."
As they waited for a taxi, Carl and Colley were suddenly caught up in the incident. Carl said: "There was another surge of these local Paris lads and the police came at us again and they threw a pepper bomb and it actually hit my ankle.
"I jumped up and threw myself to the floor right in front of my lad. I fell over and hit the deck, my lad was in tears and he couldn't breathe properly. We also had really sore eyes."
Carl said the experience has put him off taking his son to future European matches. He said: "For a nine-year-old, it was his first Liverpool experience in a big competition, he's not going to want to go again."
Liverpool have released a statement calling for a thorough investigation into events outside the ground. They have been joined by the UK Government, with culture secretary Nadine Dorries stating on Sunday: "The footage and accounts from Liverpool fans and the media on their entry to the Stade de France last night are deeply concerning.
"Thousands of ticket holders travelled to Paris in good time to support their team in the biggest match of their season. I urge UEFA to launch a formal investigation into what went wrong and why, in coordination with stadium staff, the French Police, Fédération Française de Football, Merseyside Police and Liverpool Football Club.
“It is in the interests of everyone involved to understand what happened and to learn lessons from these events."
