Liverpool welcome UEFA report on Champions League final chaos
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[February 14, 2023]
(Reuters) -Liverpool welcomed a review into the 2022
Champions League final which said organisers UEFA were responsible
for the chaos before the game, calling on the European soccer
governing body to "take positive and transparent action" to ensure
the safety of fans.
UEFA apologised to Liverpool for initially blaming the Merseyside
club's fans for the mayhem following the release of the independent
review on Monday.
The final was delayed by 36 minutes after thousands of Liverpool
supporters were unable to get into the Stade de France in Paris for
the match on May 28, which Real won 1-0, while French police were
filmed using tear gas on fans including women and children.
"(The report) fully vindicates Liverpool fans while finding UEFA
primarily responsible for organisational failings, absence of
overall control or oversight of safety and security, poor planning
and lack of contingency plans," Liverpool said in a statement on
Tuesday.
"The evidence-based panel report also found that there was 'a clear
and immediate danger of a fatal crush' and that the action of
Liverpool supporters saved lives."
The 220-page review followed an investigation chaired by Tiago
Brandao Rodrigues, a member of Portugal's parliament, and had a
panel including legal, policing and event-management consultants as
well as representatives from fan groups, which outlined 21
recommendations.
"... we call on UEFA and others at the top of the football
regulation pyramid to come together and take positive and
transparent action to ensure there are no more 'near misses',"
Liverpool said.
"We implore UEFA to fully enact the recommendations as outlined by
the panel, no matter how difficult, to ensure supporter safety is
the number one priority at the heart of every UEFA football
fixture."
The report added that the parallels between last year's Champions
League final and the 1989 Hillsborough soccer stadium disaster -- in
which 97 Liverpool supporters lost their lives -- were "palpable".
"It is shocking that more than 30 years after the Hillsborough
disaster any club and our group of fans would be subject to such
fundamental safety failings which have had such a devastating impact
on so many," Liverpool said.
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Soccer Football - Champions League Final
- Liverpool v Real Madrid - Stade de France, Saint-Denis near Paris,
France - May 28, 2022 General view of a message displayed on a big
screen inside the stadium before the match as kick off is delayed
REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo
"But even more concerning is the realisation that
for families, friends and survivors of Hillsborough, Paris has only
exacerbated their suffering."
Following the final, much of the blame was placed on Liverpool fans
by France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin but he acknowledged
police were caught off-guard by several hundred local "delinquents"
who turned up to cause trouble.
Liverpool supporters group 'Spirit of Shankly' said the report had
"exonerated" the Premier League club's fans.
"The blame game began even before a ball was kicked, and in the
immediate aftermath those supposedly in charge – UEFA and the
authorities – had no hesitation in pointing the finger at
supporters," the group said in a statement.
"But now with the publication of the report it is clear, the fans
bear no culpability, the panel concluding 'overarching
organisational failures' were the root of what went so badly wrong."
The group added that it expected an apology for "lies and smears"
directed at supporters.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in BengaluruEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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