Jurgen Klopp has welcomed the findings of the UEFA independent report into the scenes witnessed before and after the 2022 Champions League final.
Thousands of Liverpool supporters experienced severe difficulties accessing the Stade de France after being penned in by police and refused entry to the stadium. They were later accused of possessing fake tickets and needlessly teargassed despite complying with orders of those in power.
The report commissioned by UEFA, published on Monday evening, has since found UEFA bore 'primary responsibility' for the chaotic situation created before kick-off, describing it as 'remarkable' no-one died as a result of the significant congestion of fans who were instructed to gather in the same location before many were wrongly turned away.
EXCLUSIVE: Former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton reveals talks with billionaire investors
READ MORE: Liverpool have summer signing hidden in plain sight as FSG plan for midfield overhaul
Issuing his first reaction to the 160-page report, Klopp told Liverpoofc.com: "I think it’s super-important that, finally, it’s official, let me say it like this. I’m not sure, at least in my life, there was never a case with more evidence, where I knew more about [it] when I was not directly involved, because I was on the other side of the wall in the stadium, pretty much. But families, friends, they were all there and everybody knew how our supporters behaved, but it really feels good, it feels just right that it’s now official and everybody knows it now because there were so many things said after the game, which we knew they were wrong. It was just lies. So, I’m really happy that it’s finally said officially.
"Yeah, there’s no chance to ignore that. There were big mistakes made. That they had to change the venue a few months before that actually when it happened, I understand and that’s difficult. But to put it into a stadium which is not used regularly, so just for some big events and stuff like this and not all the time..
"So, as an example, I’m German and this is why I say it, but as an example if you used Berlin – a big city, enough hotels, is used to having every two weeks big events with 70,000 people in the stadium and stuff like that, it would have been exactly the same, but the supporters wouldn’t have been from Germany, but from Spain and England [and] that would be the only difference. So, there was a good chance to find a better venue than [this one in] France. So, this in the first place – that they didn’t oversee it, the problems they had with the experience of the venue, I am not sure, 16 years ago or something like that with another Champions League final where they knew it didn’t work out too well, I think that is the first problem and all the other things [followed]. Big events are organised so often and when you are under pressure, you have time pressure, you still have to make the right decisions and that’s [a] responsibility for specific people. And so yes, I hope they listen, I hope they learn."
The report also praised the response of Liverpool supporters, who called on past harrowing experiences of Hillsborough to ensure no lives were lost in the French capital on May 28. Footage emerged outside the ground of fans telling other to remain calm and to stay still, ultimately preventing further issues outside the stadium turnstiles where fans were kept for hours on end.
Sending his message to those who acted in such a responsible manner, Klopp added: "Thank you. Staying calm in a situation where nobody really can stay calm, tear gas in your eyes, pressure from up front, from the side, from behind, being locked in between thousands of people and not pushing like crazy, staying calm, is a massive thing to do and an extremely difficult thing to do. And then getting out of it and getting blamed for that, it’s horrible. It’s really horrible. So there are some jobs to do and I hope they do it properly because these kind of events should be a pure joy to watch.
"You pay a lot of money, it’s a lot of work to qualify, then you go there, everything is a positive mood and in the end you’re just happy to arrive somehow in the stadium when you made it. When you hear it first time, you cannot believe it, that that all happened in that time, but it did. So, yes, there’s a lot to improve and I hope everybody learned from it."
READ NEXT:
- 'Not for me' - Cody Gakpo explains why he shunned Jurgen Klopp talks after Liverpool criticism
- Liverpool may quietly have got their most potent attacking weapons back
- Jurgen Klopp faces Fabinho decision as Liverpool consider defensive change
- Liverpool hint hidden behind scenes at Anfield makes future of midfield perfectly clear
'We already know this' - Real Madrid star Rodrygo makes Anfield claim before Liverpool clash
