Uefa ‘Responsible’ for Champions League Final Chaos

Uefa bears “primary responsibility” for the chaotic scenes that “almost led to disaster” before last year’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, says an independent report.

Fans were penned in and teargassed outside Paris’s Stade de France as kick-off was delayed by 36 minutes.

“It is remarkable no one lost their life,” said the report, which Uefa commissioned after the 28 May final.

Uefa and French authorities initially blamed ticketless fans for the events.

The report says there is “no evidence” to support the “reprehensible” claims.

“The panel has concluded that Uefa, as event owner, bears primary responsibility for failures which almost led to disaster,” said the report.

“All the stakeholders interviewed by the panel have agreed that this situation was a near-miss: a term used when an event almost turns into a mass fatality catastrophe.”

 

While it said there was “contributory fault” from other bodies – particularly French police and the French Football Federation – the findings said European governing body Uefa was “at the wheel”.

“Uefa should have retained a monitoring and oversight role [of security], to ensure it all worked. It self-evidently did not,” the report added.

Other findings from the report

Uefa commissioned the independent report three days after the match – the showpiece of European club football which Liverpool went on to lose 1-0 – took place in the French capital.

The European governing body said a “comprehensive review” would examine a number of factors that include the decision-making, responsibility and behaviour of all parties involved in the final.

The investigation found eight key factors that “almost led to disaster” because of Uefa’s failure, which included:

• A disproportionately large number of Liverpool supporters being directed to the Stade de France Saint-Denis train station.
• Poor route planning between the train station and the stadium.
• Inadequate ticketing systems and entry mechanisms at the additional security perimeters.
• Large groups of locals gaining entry to the stadium and a failure to police them.
• Police using tear gas and pepper spray in the concourses.
• It also said the collective action of Liverpool supporters was “probably instrumental” in preventing “more serious injuries and deaths” outside the stadium.

The investigation was chaired by Dr Tiago Brandao Rodrigues, a Portuguese politician, with the panel also including experts and consultants from legal, policing and event-management fields, along with representatives from football fan groups.

The report made 21 recommendations in an attempt to ensure “everything possible is done” to prevent any similar incident happening again at a major sporting event.

It also warned French authorities this should be a “wake-up call” before it hosts the 2023 Rugby World Cup and 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Uefa tenders apology

Following the publication of the review into the Paris scenes, Uefa apologised “most sincerely” for the events which unfolded.

Uefa said it would also announce a “special refund scheme” for affected fans.

“In particular, I would like to apologise to the supporters of Liverpool,” Uefa general secretary Theodore Theodoridis said.

“For the experiences many of them had when attending the game and for the messages released prior to and during the game, which had the effect of unjustly blaming them for the situation leading to the delayed kick-off.”

The findings were thought to be set for publication on Tuesday, but details of the investigation’s conclusions were reported by a number of media organisations earlier on Monday.

Liverpool said they had not received a copy of the report before seeing the stories in the media.

“It’s hugely disappointing that a report of such significance, such importance to football supporters’ lives and future safety, should be leaked and published in this way,” said the club.

Liverpool supporters’ group Spirit of Shankly was also unhappy the report had been leaked before being seen by the club and their supporters.

The event that unfolded

Uefa initially blamed the “late arrival” of fans for the problems, which delayed kick-off by more than half an hour.

Many Liverpool fans said they had been at the stadium hours before kick-off – scheduled for 21:00 local time – but were stopped from getting into the ground.

The gates opened at 18:00 local time and fans had been told to arrive early to ease congestion.

Liverpool supporters arriving shortly after that time said already-large crowds were not moving through a ticket checkpoint and led to fans being crammed in underpasses outside the stadium.

Five minutes before kick-off, at 20:55, Uefa announced that the start of the match was delayed “for security reasons” until 21:15.

Eyewitnesses said the French police began to use pepper spray, causing the crowd to stampede backwards and leaving some of them vomiting as others rushed for water from neighbouring bars to ease the pain.

At 21:14 Uefa announced a further delay to kick-off. Eventually, the match began at 21:36.

France’s interior and sports ministers acknowledged difficulties in managing crowds at the final but initially pointed blame at Liverpool fans and local youths trying to force their way into the stadium.

French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said Liverpool had let their supporters “out in the wild”, prompting Liverpool chairman Tom Werner to demand an apology for her comments.

 

 

 

 

BBC/Emmanuel Ukoh