Champions League: UEFA apologizes and takes responsibility for the final in Paris

source: StadiumDb.com; author: Tobiasz Kowalski

Champions League: UEFA apologizes and takes responsibility for the final in Paris UEFA admits that it bears “primary responsibility” for organizational errors made during the 2021/2022 Champions League final, which resulted in a half-hour delay to the match. This is the statement made in a report published by the football union.

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What happened in Paris?

The events of May 28, 2022 received a comment as part of a report authored by UEFA. It was published on February 13, 2023 by an independent review panel led by Dr. Brandão Rodrigues. The report discusses a series of incidents from last year's Champions League final, which took place at Stade de France on the outskirts of Paris. Before the start of the match, thousands of fans waited for up to two hours to get into the venue, and some ticket holders eventually failed to do so. As a result, the match between Real Madrid and Liverpool started half an hour late. Furthermore, drastic videos surfaced on social media showing police officers using pepper spray and tear gas on fans.

Stade de France© FrancoisFromFrance (cc: by-nc-sa)

Both clubs involved in the grand final have stood up for their fans. The most resolute stance was shown by Liverpool, who called for a formal investigation into the "unacceptable" treatment of their supporters. Real Madrid representatives, on the other hand, stated that several of the club's fans had been "attacked, harassed, assaulted and robbed in a violent manner". Naturally, the questions and allegations flowed towards the event organizers, and they responded to them within a report dated February 13, 2023.

UEFA speaks openly about the case

The communiqué of the panel headed by Dr. Brandão Rodrigues comes as a positive surprise. UEFA is not deflecting the blame away from itself, but rather admitting its mistakes and learning lessons for the future. The report states that there were two “overarching organizational failures”. The first was identified as the flawed organizational model chosen by UEFA, which did not pay due attention to safety oversight. The second failure was to ignore the stadium's adopted management methods in favor of a "securitized" approach. This was based on “incorrect assumptions that Liverpool FC supporters posed a significant threat to public order”.

UEFA also admits that it bears "primary responsibility" for the failures, as it was central to the organization of the final and neglected issues within its area of competence. Moreover, the union is developing a special refund scheme for affected fans. Theodore Theodoridis, UEFA secretary general, also took the floor. He apologized on behalf of the organization to all those affected by the events of May 28, 2022. Besides, he additionally turned his attention to the Liverpool fans, who, as he admits, were unfairly blamed for the situations leading to the match delay.

Stade de France© Elise Robaglia / Potion Médiatique

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