Posted in: 01/06/2022 – 13:02
London (AFP) – Liverpool received more than 5,000 complaints from its fans within 24 hours, regarding the chaos that occurred before, during and following the Champions League final on Saturday at the Stade de France in the outskirts of Paris, according to what was announced Wednesday by the manager. Club CEO Billy Hogan.
French police fired tear gas at Liverpool fans as they gathered in long and slow-moving queues before the final, which led to the delay of its start for more than half an hour.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin claimed that up to 70 percent of tickets were fraudulently discovered by staff at the first security checkpoints outside the stadium.
But sources within the European Football Association (Wifa) and the French Football Federation told AFP on Tuesday that only 2,800 fake tickets were discovered at the stadium entry gates, indicating that the problem was more related to managing the flow of fans outside the stadium.
To justify the delay in the match, which Real Madrid won 1-0, the European Union initially blamed the delay in the arrival of fans, some of whom were subjected to violence, before issuing a statement later saying that the fake tickets were the cause of the chaos that occurred.
But the official version of events has been repeatedly refuted on social media by fans and independent journalists.
On Wednesday, Hogan called on the European Union to include evidence submitted by Liverpool fans to the club’s website to the independent review launched by “Wifa”, adding: “The form has been on our website for a little over 24 hours, and more than 5,000 forms have been filled out and completed, which is truly amazing.” .
He thanked “everyone who made the effort to submit their experience. I was appalled by the way some men, women and children – some healthy, some less able – were randomly treated over the course of a Saturday,” adding, “I think we all saw videos and pictures. I’ve read a number of stories. About very horrific experiences while also leaving the stadium. Crimes were committed and thefts occurred.”
“No one should experience what our fans went through before or following the match. In our minds, this is clearly totally unacceptable,” he stressed.
Hogan said that Liverpool tried to help the fans most affected by the problems that occurred before and following the match, explaining, “We are aware that there are many fans who were injured on Saturday evening and we have asked UEFA to provide a match day record, which includes any medical incidents during the evening, so that we can communicate With these fans and families to help if we can.”
He revealed that he is in constant contact with the European Union regarding the nature of the investigations that the latter is conducting regarding the events of the match, explaining, “I had a conversation with UEFA (Tuesday evening) regarding this matter. There are not many details at this stage, it is an ongoing process. But we want to make sure that measures are taken. Occasion”.
“It is just an example and it may be just a difference in vocabulary … but we demanded an independent investigation and not an independent report,” he added, referring to the decision taken by FIFA on Monday to open an “independent report” on the events.
“Therefore, it is very important that we remain in contact with UEFA over the next few days,” he stressed.
© 2022 AFP
