‘Messed up’: Liverpool’s Andy Robertson rejects
official accounts of Paris chaos
Player gave ticket to a friend, who was told at ground
it was fake
‘The force used by certain authorities should not be
happening’
Andy Hunter
in Paris
@AHunterGuardian
Sun 29 May
2022 18.03 BST
The
Liverpool defender Andy Robertson has said Uefa “messed up” its organisation of
the Champions League final and condemned the heavy-handed response of French
police who teargassed fans trapped outside the Stade de France.
Liverpool
have demanded Uefa conduct a formal investigation into the shambolic and
dangerous scenes that occurred before, during and after the final against Real
Madrid in Paris on Saturday.
Thousands
of supporters missed the kick-off, which was delayed 36 minutes because of
congestion outside the stadium where Liverpool fans had been corralled into a
bottleneck by police. Gates were closed for up to an hour because of problems
scanning tickets and security searches. Gangs of locals charged one of the few
open gates and attacked and robbed fans leaving the stadium following Liverpool’s
1-0 defeat.
French
police on the inside of the perimeter fence used teargas indiscriminately on
fans trapped on the outside, with young children and disabled fans affected.
Uefa
immediately blamed “the late arrival of fans” for the chaos, even though the
congestion began more than two hours before the scheduled kick‑off time. The European football governing body later released a
statement that claimed: “The turnstiles
at the Liverpool end became blocked by thousands fans who had purchased fake
tickets which did not work in the turnstiles.”
That line
was also peddled by France’s minister of the interior, Gérald Darmanin, who
tweeted: “Thousands of British ‘supporters’, without tickets or with
counterfeit tickets, forced entry and sometimes assaulted the stewards.”
Their
accounts were rejected by Merseyside match-day police officers who travelled
with the Liverpool fans. “Can only describe it as the worst European match I’ve
ever worked or experienced,” tweeted @MerPolLFC “I thought the behaviour of the
fans at the turnstiles was exemplary in shocking circumstances. You were not
late 100%.”
Robertson’s
friend was one of many who had a legitimate ticket for the final and was
initially refused entry on the false premise of possessing a fake ticket. The
Liverpool defender said players became aware of the seriousness of the
situation when receiving first-hand accounts from family and friends after the
game. He has challenged Uefa’s take on the problems outside the stadium,
claiming the organisers and police were “making it up at times and panicked”.
The
Scotland captain said: “The biggest game in world football, these situations
shouldn’t be happening and unfortunately Uefa have messed up. When you come in
after the game, you go on your phone and you see everyone struggle to get in,
the French police being pretty heavy-handed, people who have got legitimate
tickets being told they are fake tickets, which happened to one of my mates and
I can assure you it wasn’t a fake ticket so when it comes to it, they have just
panicked.
“He luckily
managed to get in because one of the club representatives sorted it but they
said it was a fake ticket which I can assure you it wasn’t. For me it shouldn’t
really happen, Uefa should have been better organised.”
Liverpool
supporters group Spirit of Shankly described the scenes as “totally shambolic
and extremely dangerous”. The problems for supporters did not end there, with
many attacked outside Stade de France after the game. SOS added: “The failure
rests with Uefa, the French authorities and police. The consequence of such
incompetence was the not unusual heavy-handed response from the police and
their indiscriminate use of teargas and pepper spray.
“The French
authorities and police also failed to control gangs of local youths before and
after the match. Innocent fans were left distraught after they were assaulted,
bags pickpocketed and match tickets stolen.
“The safety
and well-being of our fans is paramount and in the weeks leading up to the game
Spirit of Shankly worked closely with LFC, @FSE and @merpol to ensure all that
could be done would be done to secure this. It was not. And that collective
work was ignored by Uefa and the relevant French authorities.”
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