Merseyside Police will debrief UEFA after disturbing scenes ahead of Saturday night’s Champions League final in Paris.
Upsetting images and video from Stade de France showed French police using pepper spray on supporters including young children and families.
Despite thousands of fans arriving early and queuing for hours, many were not able to access the ground ahead of kick-off. UEFA delayed the match by 36 minutes and in a public statement said the issues were due to "thousands of fans who had purchased fake tickets".
READ MORE: 'Heroic' Liverpool FC fans praised amid ugly scenes before Champions League final
UEFA's statement has been slammed by fans, journalists and pundits who attended the game. Liverpool FC also requested a formal investigation.
In a new statement, Merseyside Police officers deployed to work the match in Paris said the vast majority of fans behaved in an 'exemplary manner'.
They added that fans arrived at the turnstiles early and queued as directed. Assistant Chief Constable Chris Green said: “We are aware of a number of reports relating to incidents both before and after last night’s Champions League Final at the Stade de France in Paris.
“We are also aware that Liverpool FC have requested a formal investigation from UEFA and we will be linking in with both the club, UEFA and the UK Football Policing Unit to pass on the observations of our officers who attended the game and took part in the pre-match meetings with the relevant authorities.
“As with all European matches officers from Merseyside were deployed in France to work in an observatory and advisory capacity with the local officers, and they have reported the vast majority of fans behaved in an exemplary manner, arriving at turnstiles early and queuing as directed and their observations will be passed on to the relevant authorities as part of the debrief for the game.
"Many thousands of fans have travelled throughout this season to matches across Europe and we have worked closely with our supporter groups, the Club and European hosts to ensure that the matches passed without incident and fans were kept safe. Our officers returning today will conduct a formal debrief to ensure that we can fully support any subsequent investigation following last night’s game.
“We know that people would have witnessed a lot of distressing scenes last night and we wish everyone returning home from Paris a safe journey. Our focus today will be supporting Liverpool city council with the policing of the homecoming parade.”
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