Politics

PARIS - The Paris police chief said on Thursday that he might have been wrong when he said up to 40,000 Liverpool fans tried enter the Champions League final with fake tickets and that there was no scientific evidence to support the claim.

Didier Lallement added during a hearing in the French Senate that the police action around the match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France was a "failure" both because fans were harmed and the image of France was degraded.

BELLINZONA, Switzerland - The trial of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and French footballing legend Michel Platini over alleged corrupt payments ground to a halt on Wednesday when Blatter said he was too ill to testify.

Swiss prosecutors accuse the pair, once among football's most powerful figures, of unlawfully arranging a payment of $2.08 million in 2011. Blatter and Platini both deny the charges. But Blatter, looking frail during the hearing at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, said he was unable to address the court due to chest pains.

SAN FRANCISCO - Players and coaches for the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics as well as the U.S. men's soccer team on Sunday urged Congress to support stricter gun laws amid a surge in mass shootings in the United States.

A shooting in Philadelphia left at least three people dead and 11 others wounded, police said on Sunday in the latest case of gun violence in the United States following recent massacres in Texas, New York and Oklahoma in which dozens died.

CARDIFF - Ukraine coach Oleksandr Petrakov said his players would hang a flag in their dressing room given to them by soldiers on the frontline before their World Cup playoff against Wales on Sunday.

PARIS - Chaotic scenes at the French national stadium before and during Saturday night's Champions League final were branded a national embarrassment, while French ministers blamed Liverpool fans for the trouble.

The final between Liverpool and Real Madrid kicked off with a 35-minute delay after police tried to hold back people attempting to force their way into the Stade de France without tickets, while some ticket holders complained they were not let in.

FIFA has been doing its darndest to make sure fans can drink plenty of Budweiser during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The global soccer governing body might want to do a little more to ensure all fans are actually able to attend the tournament in person.

Oleksandr Pikhalyonok scored the winner as Ukraine beat Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 in a friendly on Wednesday in the national team's first game since the country was invaded by Russia.

The match at Borussia-Park was attended by over 20,000 spectators, with all proceeds going towards relief efforts in Ukraine. Players from both teams held up a "Stop War" banner before kick-off.

A Russian representative was allowed to attend UEFA's Congress in Vienna on Wednesday despite the country's national teams and clubs being barred from competitions.

Europe's governing body UEFA and world soccer governing body FIFA suspended Russian clubs and national teams from their competitions in February until further notice after the invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation." Russia has been accused of committing war crimes in Ukraine.