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Crowd outside the Stade de France before the Champions League final
Photo: Matthias Hangst / Getty Images
After the chaos surrounding the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool FC in Paris, the European Football Union Uefa has apologized to the fans affected.
They had to experience or witness frightening and harrowing events on an evening "that should have been a celebration of European club football".
"No football fan should be put in such a situation and it must not happen again," said a UEFA statement on Friday night.
The game, which Real won 1-0, was delayed for more than 30 minutes after chaotic scenes erupted outside the stadium.
The police sprayed tear gas against fans, including women and children.
France's Home Secretary Gerald Darmanin put the main blame on Liverpool fans, saying 30,000 to 40,000 fans had turned up without valid tickets, leading to a crowd at the stadium and people trying to force their way in.
There is no evidence for this representation.
On the contrary: it is now said that only 2800 counterfeit tickets had been scanned.
Darmanin's version of escalating Liverpool fans has been contested by several parties.
Eyewitnesses report that the vast majority of Reds supporters behaved in an exemplary manner in the chaos and avoided further escalation.
Uefa now wants to have the incidents independently investigated.
"Uefa wants - and needs - to understand what happened during the final day," it said.
The investigation is led by Portuguese Tiago Brandão Rodrigues.
It is hoped that a complete picture and a precise timing of events will be obtained, including the study of spectator flows to the stadium through the various access points.
In addition, all relevant operational plans in terms of security, mobility, ticketing, as well as the planning and preparation of the institutions involved to host the final will be examined.
Among other things, the fan groups of both clubs as well as the fan association Football Supporters Europe are to be involved.
The review should therefore begin immediately and be completed as quickly as possible.
After completion, the report "in the interest of transparency by Uefa" will be published on the website of the continental association.
bbr/dpa/AFP
