Liverpool have issued a lengthy statement in response to an independent UEFA report which investigated the traumatic events of last year's Champions League final.
A number of Reds fans who made the trip to Paris on May 28 for their side's narrow 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid, including children, were subject to tear gas and pepper spray by French police outside of the Stade de France. Kick-off was delayed by 37 minutes as thousands of supporters were unable to enter the stadium, which UEFA and France's sports minister, Amelie Oudea-Castera, attempted to blame on ticketless fans.
The report, which was leaked shortly before its official publication on Monday evening, assigns UEFA with "primary responsibility." An independent panel damningly concluded, after eight months of gathering evidence, that the European football governing body's organisational failures, coupled with lack of a venue risk assessment by French authorities, "almost led to a disaster."
In a statement issued on Tuesday morning, Liverpool urged UEFA to implement all 21 of the critical recommendations suggested by the panel. "Last night UEFA published the Independent Panel Report into the failings that we saw first-hand in Paris and it is within this context that we call on UEFA and others at the top of the football regulation pyramid to come together and take positive and transparent action to ensure there are no more 'near misses'," it began.
"We implore UEFA to fully enact the recommendations as outlined by the Panel – no matter how difficult – to ensure supporter safety is the number one priority at the heart of every UEFA football fixture. 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. Shocking false narratives were peddled in the immediate aftermath of that night in Paris; narratives that have since been totally disproven.
"The independent French Senate report published in July 2022 found Liverpool supporters were unfairly and wrongly blamed for the chaotic scenes to divert attention from the real organisational failures. The Independent Senate report also published 15 recommendations for improvements. No action has been taken on these recommendations to date.
"A further independent, 160-page report, using almost 500 eye-witness testimonies and authored by the highly respected critical criminologist, academic and author Professor Phil Scraton, concluded that UEFA had achieved abject failure in trying to meet its responsibilities.
Have your say! What must be done to avoid similar ordeals in the future? Give us your verdict in the comments section.
"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.
"As a football club with proud history in Europe, we call on UEFA to do the right thing and implement the 21 recommendations to ensure the safety of all football supporters attending any future UEFA football match."
The FA have also issued a statement in response which reads: "We welcome the findings of the very detailed and thorough report, and are pleased that Liverpool fans have been praised for their exemplary behaviour on the night - behaviour which saved lives. The report contains important recommendations which are relevant to everyone involved in the delivery of major football events, and positive action should be taken to ensure that this never happens again."
