BREAKING NEWS: UEFA to REIMBURSE all Liverpool fans in chaotic Champions League final in Paris with £3M payment to 19,618 Reds supporters who helped prevent ‘mass death catastrophe’
- UEFA had previously blamed Liverpool fans for the problems at last year’s final in Paris.
- But an independent report commissioned by the UEFA body clarified the supporters of the Reds
UEFA is reimbursing all Liverpool fans who attended the Champions League final in Paris last year in an unprecedented move likely to cost millions and further recognition of how wrong UEFA was in organization of the main event
An independent report commissioned by UEFA concluded that only the calm of Liverpool fans prevented a ‘catastrophe of mass deaths’ after it was discovered that UEFA had neglected security, that French police behaved incompetently by firing tear gas into the crowd and that French Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin inflated the number of fans without tickets “as an excuse to mask other failures”.
UEFA has already apologized and promised to implement the report’s recommendations, but this is the most important act of contrition and will cost Europe’s governing body millions of pounds.
A statement from the governing body said: ‘We have taken into account a large number of opinions expressed both publicly and privately and believe we have devised a scheme that is comprehensive and fair.
“We value the input from Liverpool FC supporters organizations Spirit of Shankly (SoS) and Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association (LDSA) as well as the open and transparent dialogue during this period.
“We recognize the negative experiences of those fans on the day and with this scheme we will reimburse those fans who purchased tickets and who were the most affected by the difficulties in accessing the stadium.”
Many Liverpool fans are already suing UEFA in class actions and hundreds of fans with genuine tickets have been denied entry due to the chaos or because they were accused of having fake tickets because the stewards were not trained and the devices of scan were faulty.
The most expensive tickets were €690 or £610 and the cheapest €70 or £62, meaning that UEFA’s bill for the 19,618 tickets issued to Liverpool fans is likely to cost around £3 million.
There were scenes of chaos as Liverpool fans battled to reach the final in Paris last year.
The Liverpool fans were cleared of wrongdoing despite initially being found guilty by the authorities.
Liverpool fans protest against UEFA during their team’s match against Real Madrid last month
Supporters called on key UEFA officials to resign and accused French ministers of being liars
In a sign that UEFA appears to be changing its stance, it also paid tribute to Football Supporters Europe, the pan-European organization of campaigning supporters, and to Liverpool supporters’ groups the Spirit of Shankly and the Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association, who campaigned in name of the followers caught up in the chaos.
In a statement, those fan groups said: “Spirit of Shankly and the Liverpool Disabled Supporters’ Association welcome today’s announcement by UEFA that they will refund all Liverpool FC ticket holders who attended the Liverpool FC final. the Champions League in Paris on May 22”.
‘This unprecedented move is the result of tireless work, together with ESF and Ian Byrne MP, to hold those responsible for the catastrophic events in Paris accountable.
‘By promising to reimburse supporters, UEFA have made an effort to acknowledge their part in the fiasco.
“But it does not excuse UEFA, exempts them from criticism or lessens the need for them to implement all the recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry.
“We will work together with the LFC and post the details once we know how and when the refunds will be processed.”