The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) told The Independent that it was powerless to prevent flares being smuggled into games at its European Championships, after the presence of them in the stands at four individual tournament games raised new questions about the competence of the French security operation, amid the ongoing terror threat.

Flares are a prohibited object and the fact they were smuggled with impunity into Russia’s fixtures against England and Slovakia and Croatia’s matches with Turkey and Czech Republic underlines the need to re-examine the security operation. But UEFA told The Independent that it was “extremely difficult” to prevent fireworks being brought into games.

The hurling of several missiles onto the pitch at the Saint Etienne’s Stade Geoffroy-Guichard venue, causing the temporary suspension of Croatia’s Group D match with the Czech Republic, was the biggest indictment of organisational efficiency yet, given that a state of civil war within the Croatian game meant the disorder was by no means unexpected.