French ministers will be taken to task over the "appalling" scenes at the Champions League final in Paris and the subsequent smears about the behaviour of Liverpool fans, MPs have been told.
Liverpool were defeated 1-0 by Real Madrid at the Stade de France, but the football became a mere sideshow amid organisational issues outside the ground and footage of supporters being pepper-sprayed by authorities.
Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston committed to raising the “terrifying and potentially dangerous conditions” with France's sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera this week.
Read more: Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram to appear before French senate to discuss Paris chaos
Ms Oudea-Castera has been roundly condemned after blaming ticketless Liverpool supporters for causing the chaos.
Liverpool MP Ian Byrne, asking an urgent question in the Commons this afternoon, said: “I was there last Saturday in Paris, I was also there at Hillsborough in 1989, and I can say without any shadow of a doubt that if it was not for the magnificent efforts of the Liverpool supporters last Saturday, we could have had a disaster worse than Hillsborough.
“Last Saturday in Paris I witnessed first-hand the shambolic stadium management and the most hostile policing environment at a sporting event I have ever witnessed. I watched children getting pepper-sprayed and pensioners getting tear-gassed, turnstiles and exits shut while thousands queued for hours waiting to attend the blue riband football occasion of the season.
“We were treated like animals for wanting to watch a game of football and then, shamefully, the smears and lies straight from the Hillsborough playbook were used by the authorities to avoid accountability of the horrific events.”
Mr Byrne asked the Government to make representations to Uefa for a “full and truly independent inquiry” into the events outside the Stade de France before Real Madrid’s 1-0 win against Liverpool.
He also asked the minister whether he will “call on the French government and Uefa to retract the attempts to smear Liverpool Football Club supporters without any verifiable evidence produced to substantiate the claims”.
Mr Huddleston committed to raising the issues with the French, adding: “What should have been a celebration of the pinnacle of European club football will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. I am shocked and concerned by what has come to light.”
"Thousands of Liverpool fans travelled to Paris in good time to support their team in one of the biggest matches of the season and we’re hugely disappointed by how they were treated.
“Fans deserve to know what happened, so it is absolutely right that the relevant authorities are now fully investigating these events.
“These investigations must establish the facts so the authorities can learn lessons from the event and ensure we do not see scenes like this ever again.”
