(Football news) UEFA will refund entire Liverpool fans’ allocation of 19,618 tickets from the 2022 Champions League final, which means supporters will receive the full cost of their ticket back at the incident-hit final in Paris last May. Fans were indiscriminately sprayed with tear gas, leading to crushes around the stadium before the game and were then blamed by UEFA and the French government for the subsequent disturbances. However, a UEFA-commissioned report later praised Liverpool fans’ conduct, citing organisational failures from the two governing bodies which could have led to catastrophic consequences.
The final against Real Madrid was delayed by 38 minutes due to crowd issues with fans inside the stadium being told a “security issue” was to blame for the late running. Liverpool fans received an apology from UEFA in February who said that “a special refund scheme for fans” will be introduced that can be claimed by any fan who couldn’t access the stadium before the originally scheduled kick-off time – or at all (the scheme includes Real Madrid supporters).
UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis said “We have taken into account a huge number of views expressed both publicly and privately and we believe we have devised a scheme that is comprehensive and fair. We value the input from the Liverpool FC supporter organisations Spirit of Shankly (SoS) and Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association (LDSA) as well as the open and transparent dialogue throughout this period. We recognise the negative experiences of those supporters on the day and with this scheme we will refund fans who had bought tickets and who were the most affected by the difficulties in accessing the stadium.”
The statement was welcomed by the Spirit of Shankly who said that UEFA had “gone some way to acknowledging their part in the fiasco”. They added “But it does not excuse UEFA, exempt them from criticism or lessen the need for them to implement all of the recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry.”
Police were blamed for being heavy handed with fans, attacking them and using pepper spray along with tear gas for no reason. The report blamed UEFA along with the French government as it was their responsibility to ensure public safety. A lack of Plan B was also an issue, resulting in the match being delayed by 37 minutes due to operational issues, with the use of tear gas and pepper spray being particularly distressing for disabled and asthmatics. The commission also rejected claims of ticketless fans attempting to enter the stadium made by the French government and said late arriving supporters were not a cause as problems were apparent about three hours before kick-off.
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