Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Our Liverpool.
This new feature showcases the best of ECHO content so you'll never have to miss the most important talking points on Merseyside. Wednesday's edition is a reaction to the fallout from the independent report into what happened at the Champions League final last May.
I attended what was supposed to be European football's showpiece event between Real Madrid and Liverpool and narrowly avoided the chaotic scenes outside the Stade de France purely by chance. However, I will never be able to forget the mixture of confusion, disbelief and anger that swept across the Liverpool end when UEFA displayed the now proven to be untrue announcement that the game was delayed due to fans arriving late.
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Nothing will ever truly make up for the traumatic scenes of that day, but the findings this week came as some form of relief as Liverpool FC fans were completely exonerated from blame. ECHO reporters have been digesting the 158 page report and I have rounded up some of the most important points below.
The behaviour of fans saved lives
The independent report praised Reds' fans for protecting each other when French police were nowhere to be seen. The panel looked at video evidence and eyewitness accounts and came to the conclusion that if it wasn't for Liverpool fans protecting each other there could have been fatalities. You can read the full article from Abby Nicholson here
UEFA tried to blame everyone else for its own failings
Political editor, Liam Thorp, put the spotlight on the report's damning indictment of UEFA's failings. The report - prepared following a six-month investigation and chaired by Portuguese politician Tiago Brandão Rodrigues - contains a large section criticising how UEFA attempted to shift blame in the days and weeks after the final, in public statements, press releases and during hearings at the French senate. You can read the full article here
Meaningful action still needed
Liverpool FC released a strongly worded statement in the aftermath of the findings to call on UEFA to implement changes to ensure fans would never be subjected to this ordeal ever again. The statement said: "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."
You can can read the full story from Ian Doyle here.
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