UEFA would be ‘primarily responsible’ for incidents prior to the Champions League final in Paris

The Uefaorganizer of the final of the Champions Leagueis the “primarily responsible” for the serious incidents “that almost led to disaster” last May at the Stade de Franceconcludes a group of experts at the end of an independent investigation requested by the European instance.

The group concludes that the UEFA, as the owner of the event, bears the primary responsibility for failures that almost led to disaster”, can be read in a long document to which the AFP and in which also the Police Prefecture and the French Football Federation are criticized (FFF).

This is why the 2022 Champions League final in Paris was delayed: chaos at the entrance of the Liverpool fans, muggings, pepper spray attacks, assaults

“Although it is reasonable to delegate security tasks to othersin the first place the FFF and to refer to (…) the Police Prefecture for security issues, does not mean that UEFA is absolved of its responsibility. UEFA played a central role in organizing the event and should have monitored, supervised and contributed to the security measures,” according to the experts.

“The other parties made mistakes who contributed (to the incidents), but it was UEFA who was in command” of the organization of the final that Real Madrid and Liverpool played on May 28.

The experts criticize the FFF for its “key role” in the organization of the party as host federation and found “communication failures” with the Police Prefecture and with those responsible for transport, the origin of the collapse of supporters upon arrival at the stadium.

French police acknowledge that operation in the Champions League final ‘failed’

“These errors should not have occurred and when they were detected, the FFF should have considered them a priority,” the report notes.

Collapsed accesses, fans and families of fans sprayed with tear gas or victims of robberies… The security device during the final held at the Stade de France offered chaotic scenes, causing great controversy both in France and in England.

The report also criticizes the bad reaction of the French security forces, since the use of tear gas “has no place in a football party.”

The experts responsible for the report, directed by the former Minister of Education, Youth and Sports of Portugal, Tiago Brandao Rodrigues, They were “shocked” at the possibility that the police response was influenced by the image of Liverpool supporters designated as “hooligans”, an “inexplicable misconception”.

Initially, the French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin incriminated the British fans, many of whom had traveled to Paris with false tickets, although the prefect Didier Lallement later admitted that he could have been “wrong” in the figures, acknowledging a ” failure”.

Experts have not found “no evidence of an abnormally high number of fans without tickets or with fake tickets”criticizing the figures given by the French authorities, “falsely inflated and exaggerated”, suggesting that it could be due to the intention of “diverting their responsibility in operational failures”.

Contacted by the AFPthe Ministry of the Interior did not want to comment on the conclusions of the experts.

A government report pointed to imbalances in the operation of the police and the organization in an episode that damaged the image of France, especially with a view to the Paris-2024 Games.

Apologies from UEFA

The UEFA General Secretary, Theodore Theodoridis, apologized in a statement on behalf of the European instance: “On behalf of UEFA, I would like to sincerely apologize once again to all those affected by the events that unfolded in what should have been a celebration at the height of the club season.

In particular, I would like to apologize to Liverpool FC supporters for the experiences many of them had while attending the match and for the messages released before and during the match which had the effect of unfairly blaming them for the situation that led to the delay of the game. kick-off”.

“UEFA is committed to learning from the events of 28 May, and will cooperate closely with fan groups, finalist clubs, host associations and local authorities in order to deliver exceptional finals where everyone can enjoy the game in a safe and welcoming environment,” added Theodoridis. (D)