Jason McAteer's family were 'attacked' and 'mugged' after Champions League final
"Five men come from behind Lucy. One of them rips her top open, she has a blouse open, she gets exposed"
Former Ireland international Jason McAteer
Former Ireland and Liverpool player Jason McAteer’s family were subject to a violent attack after the Champions League final in Paris on Saturday.
The former midfielder said that his wife Lucy and son Harry attended the Liverpool vs Real Madrid match over the weekend but were “attacked” and “mugged” while trying to leave the Stade de France after the game.
Speaking to Ray D’Arcy on RTÉ Radio One, Jason said that there was “trouble” before kickoff which reminded him of the Hillsborough disaster.
“An hour and a half before kickoff there was a bit of a swell. One of the gates further up had been closed and fans were starting to make their way down to the next available entrance,” he explained.
“It just got a little bit uncomfortable around that time. The fans were coming in their hundreds.
“Then it started getting a bit aggressive. Lucy’s gate filled up really quickly and she got caught up in it. She rang me in tears saying she’d been squashed and it was really uncomfortable and she got scared.
“It was just disgusting. It happened so quick, the volume of people that just arrived.”
Lucy was left with bruises after the mayhem
However, things really began to escalate after Real Madrid lifted the cup as “little pockets of gangs [were] just hanging round, observing people and attacking them”.
“My wife and Harry left 10 minutes after the game,” Jason continued.
“Five men come from behind Lucy. One of them rips her top open, she has a blouse open, she gets exposed. They grab her arms and [gave her] what she could only describe as an old-fashioned Chinese burn. They were doing this on her wrists on both arms so she screamed.
“Harry turns around and charges at these five fellas and they scarf her. Lucy notices that her watch has been stolen.
“He gave up on the chase because he lost them in the crowd. He takes his phone from his pocket and the five lads set upon him and they give him a good kick in.
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“His clothes were ripped, he’s cut his arm and elbow, they try to take his phone so they fight him off. It was Real Madrid fans who were walking past that helped him out.”
Jason slammed the French police for their “sheer incompetence” in controlling the scenes.
“I never saw one French policeman, any stewards, any UEFA official, any police cars. There was no police presence at all. It was disgusting.”
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