The French government is blaming Liverpool fans. The English club is enraged by the “irresponsible, unprofessional” rush to conclusions. European soccer's governing body, UEFA, will now try to uncover what went wrong in the disorder and chaos in Paris at the Champions League final before Liverpool lost to Real Madrid.
UEFA is starting to gather evidence about issues outside the Stade de France that marred one of the world’s biggest games in sports on SaturdayLiverpool fans' leadership groups are already complaining about heavy-handed policing and poor organization on a troubling night that saw children and elderly people among those getting sprayed by tear gas.
Richard Bouigue, deputy mayor of the 12th arrondissement in Paris, said “the time for official denial is over, the time for apologies must be imposed” in a letter to a Liverpool supporters’ group.“I deplore the dysfunctions in the organization of the game and the lack of maintenance of order that led to this real fiasco,” Bouigue wrote to the Spirit of Shankly group in a letter seen by The Associated Press.
There were also renewed concerns in Spain on Wednesday about the organizational failings.
“It was a pretty big mess,” said Madrid defender Dani Carvajal, whose family encountered safety issues. “They have to learn and fix the mistakes for the next events that may happen at this stadium and hopefully everything will be better. But yes, in the end there were people who suffered a lot.”The challenges of staging the final with just three months' notice — Paris was awarded the game in February after a decision was taken to strip Russia's St. Petersburg of hosting rights — has been floated as a reason for the chaos that unfolded.
Having months, rather than years, to plan for the final was still enough time for hospitality facilities to be prepared and the stadium wrapped in special competition branding.There was, though, a shortage of signage on streets leading to the stadium and on the subway and train lines. While private security was at stadium entrances, there were no volunteers deployed to help fans navigate unfamiliar streets and communicate as lines grew longer.
What was the reason behind the decision to herd fans — mostly from Liverpool — into a narrow passage on the walk up to the stadium from the metro, with police vans blocking much of the space? Were there enough police officers and security guards in and around the stadium for such a big occasion?
In a statement released Tuesday, the French Football Federation said there were 1,650 security guards at the Stade de France — 25% more than for a sold-out France match, it claimed — “in anticipation of the possible presence of people without tickets or in possession of counterfeit tickets.”The “late arrival of fans” was the initial reason given for the delay to kickoff for what proved to be 37 minutes. Yet there was clear evidence many fans had arrived near the stadium up to three hours before the scheduled start of the game and simply ended up stuck in lines that barely moved. Liverpool fans, pressed up against the railings and many fearful of their own safety, hadn't even been told the match had been delayed. That appeared to add to the panic, as some thought they would miss the game.
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