Liverpool have welcomed a report by Uefa that “fully vindicates” the club’s supporters after the crowd trouble that marred last season’s Champions League final.
Uefa’s own review found on Monday that it bore “primary responsibility” for the chaos at the Stade de France in May of last year, admitting that fans of both Liverpool and Real Madrid could have died.
The independent panel’s report rejects claims made by the governing body and French police that thousand of ticketless Liverpool fans had been the cause of issues, stating that the police operation had been “defective”.
A statement from the Merseyside club criticised the peddling of “shocking false narratives” and implored Uefa to enact 21 recommendations made by the panel.
“Liverpool FC welcomes the Report into the chaos at the Uefa Champions League final in Paris which 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,” the statement said.
“On the evening of the Champions League final at the Stade de France, even before the delayed kick-off was announced, we called on officials at the top of Uefa to delay kick-off and take control of the chaos that had developed outside the stadium. We also called on Uefa to launch a full independent and transparent investigation, in order to establish the facts.
“We knew that it was critical to understand why both Liverpool and Real Madrid supporters found ourselves in the situation where supporters’ safety was put at risk. We were determined to make sure a robust investigation was conducted in order that lessons are learned to ensure the safety of football supporters in Europe is never compromised again.”
An independent French Senate report in July 2022 also found that Liverpool supporters had been unfairly blamed.
France is due to host both the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Ten matches at the tournament this autumn will be held at the Stade de France, which will also the closing ceremony at the end of next summer’s Olympic Games.
The statement from Liverpool continued : “Shocking false narratives were peddled in the immediate aftermath of that night in Paris; narratives that have since been totally disproven.
“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. But even more concerning is the realisation that for families, friends and survivors of Hillsborough, Paris has only exacerbated their suffering.
“Our thoughts go out to all our fans who have suffered as a result of Paris and we would remind them of the mental health support we put in place in the days following the disaster that was the Uefa Champions League final in Paris.”
