France's former interior minister has apologised for the first time for the 2022 fiasco at the Stade de France which saw Liverpool football supporters wrongly blamed for a riot.

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Gérald Darmanin admitted that security arrangements for the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid were wrong, and that his first public remarks – blaming English fans – were a mistake.

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"It was a failure because I had not foreseen. That was a mistake on my part. I was led astray by my preconceptions," said Darmanin, now France's justice minister.

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"The scapegoat was easy to find, and I apologise now to Liverpool supporters. They were quite right to be hurt. It was a mistake and a failure."

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Police used tear gas on Liverpool supporters as they tried to enter the stadium in Paris. Some fans were also ambushed and mugged by gangs of French youths.

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In a lengthy interview on the Legend YouTube channel, Darmanin said the night was "the biggest failure" of his career.

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"What I did not appreciate that evening was that the real problem was not coming from English supporters, but from delinquents who were robbing fans.

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"Our security arrangements were not designed for that eventuality. We had riot police … with big boots and shields – not great for running. What you need against that kind of delinquency is officers in running shoes.

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"We got our arrangements wrong. We were expecting a war of (football) hooligans, and what we got instead was muggers."

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In their first comments after the problems, Darmanin and police chief Didier Lallement said the dangerous crush at the stadium was largely caused by Liverpool fans in possession of fake tickets.

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The claim was subsequently debunked in an independent report commissioned by UEFA.

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In another section of the interview, Darmanin said that there was "no longer any safe place" in France - a comment that drew fire from the hard-right opposition.

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"What a lot of French people can see is that (violence) has become general, it has metastasised. It's no longer only in the places where you once looked for potential problems.

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"Nowadays you can see that the tiniest country village has experience of cocaine or cannabis."

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National Rally MP Jean-Philippe Tanguy pointed out that Gérald Darmanin has been part of the government since President Emmanuel Macron’s first election in 2017.

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Tanguy accused Darmanin of “treating the French like imbeciles,” criticizing him for making bold public statements while overseeing what he described as a disastrous track record.

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At 42 and aligned with the political right, Darmanin did little in the interview to quell growing speculation that he may be positioning himself as a potential successor to Macron in the 2027 presidential race.

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"Do I think of the presidential election? The answer is yes," he said.

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"That does not mean that I am going to be a candidate, but it does mean I have ambitions for the country to do better than what I see now."

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