Liverpool Icon Sir Kenny Dalglish has criticized UEFA after the Champions League final fiasco.
Real Madrid won their 14th Champions League trophy that night but what made headlines was the Thousand of football fans that were stuck at the gate of the Stade de France and were subjected to multiple cases of abuse at the gate by the French Police. this resulted in the game being delayed for 36 minutes.
Liverpool fans with valid tickets who had flown from England to Paris were subjected to tear gas by Paris Police and were mobbed by other fans on their way to the stadium.
After the game, French authorities blamed the chaos on fans who had no tickets and possessed fake tickets for the Saturday night mess. Gerald Darmanin, the interior minister for France has pinned the issue on Liverpool fans.
Both Real Madrid and Liverpool have issued statements condemning the way their fans were treated while entering the stadium.
UEFA had also issued a statement apologizing to the fans for the way they were treated and the frightening scene they went through. they released a statement on their official website saying: “UEFA wishes to sincerely apologize to all spectators who had to experience or witness frightening and distressing events in the build-up to the UEFA Champions League final at the Stade de France on May 28, 2022, in Paris, on a night which should have been a celebration of European club football.
“No football fan should be put in that situation, and it must not happen again,”
The Football Governing body also added that an independent commission had been constituted to look into the matter.
UEFA added: “UEFA wishes — and needs — to understand what happened during the day of the final, and determine lessons learned to ensure there is no repeat of the actions and events of that day.
“The review will seek to establish a full picture and timeline of what occurred during the day, both within the stadium and the surrounding areas, including examining spectator flows to the stadium via the various access points.”
The latest person to express his view on the Saturday night chaos in Liverpool’s Great Sir Kenny Dalglish who was at the stadium that night, He described the scene at the Stade de French as unacceptable.
Sir Kenny Dalglish wrote a Sunday Post column saying: “The scenes at last Saturday’s Champions League Final were unacceptable. What the Liverpool supporters had to go through was appalling.
“I was at the Stade de France, and the whole thing was an absolute shambles. I thought the fans showed great restraint and patience as they tried to get into the stadium to see the game, only to be faced with tear gas, pepper spray, and what appeared to be local youths intent on causing mayhem.
“UEFA initially went into defensive mode but has since offered an apology. They stated ‘No football fan should be put in that situation, and it must not happen again. Correct.
“The fans caught up in the chaos deserved an apology and an explanation from UEFA They could not be seen to undermine the supporters, and attempt to sweep what went on under the carpet.
“On the back of Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt complaining about incidents around their
Europa League Final in Seville, UEFA have got it badly wrong in their two showpiece games.
“I look forward to a detailed account of their findings. Internally, they need to take a good look at themselves. Moving forward, a good starting point should be to give clubs competing in the finals more a ticket allocation.
“Getting 20 percent of the tickets available is just not on. It deprives loyal fans of seeing their team and, instead, too many tickets are given to random people.”
Do you think anything good will out of UEFA independent commission?
