French minister: British citizens among those arrested over Champions League trouble

PARIS (Reuters) - British citizens were among those arrested after crowd trouble broke out at last weekend's Champions League soccer final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, said France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Monday.

Darmanin said that out of the 29 or 30 or so people arrested at Paris' Stade de France last Saturday, "more than a half concerned British citizens." He added there had been an "industrial-scale" level of selling fake tickets, which in turn had caused Liverpool fans to turn up en masse without valid tickets.

France's sports minister said on Monday that Liverpool fans without valid tickets were responsible for the initial crowd problems at the Champions League final, with the problem then exacerbated by local youths trying to force their way in to the game. [L1N2XM09H]

Liverpool Chief Executive Billy Hogan said the club wanted a "transparent investigation" by governing body UEFA. Britain's minister for sport, Nadine Dorries, also urged UEFA to investigate.

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)