(Reuters) – Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan has reiterated a call for an investigation into last weekend’s Champions League soccer final between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Paris, which was marred by crowd trouble.
The match, which Real won 1-0, was delayed by more than 30 minutes after officers forcefully held back people trying to enter the Stade de France. Riot police sprayed tear gas on fans, including women and children.
European soccer governing body UEFA has commissioned an independent inquiry into the incident, while French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said on Monday that they would produce a report within 10 days.
“We at Liverpool have been calling for an investigation into what happened in Paris on Saturday, not a report,” Hogan said on Liverpool’s website on Thursday.
“I think those are two very different things. We’ve written to UEFA again today and we’ve raised specific questions … that we’d like them to clarify around the details of this investigation.
“We just feel it’s incredibly important that we get this investigation going, frankly that we get it launched immediately and that there are clear specifics around the process and how it’s going to work.”
France’s interior minister Gerald Darmanin said that much of the blame lay with Liverpool fans and that 30,000-40,000 arrived without valid tickets, which led to a crowd crush at the stadium and people trying to force their way in.
A report https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/01/sports/soccer/champions-league-final-tickets.html?smid=url-share in the New York Times, however, said that only 2,589 counterfeit tickets were intercepted by stewards.
“I spoke to my counterpart at Real Madrid yesterday, who made it clear that their fans also had issues,” Hogan said. “They had major concerns with the matchday operation, including the policing operation around the match.
“My understanding is that Real Madrid are going to be putting some details out across their channels about this as well.
“The pain, the grief, the harm, the hurt … and now to be told by a French minister that only Liverpool fans have been a problem, it’s just disgraceful. Real Madrid have made it clear their fans suffered as well.”
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue)
