‘We must ensure this never happens again’
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has revealed that his family were caught up in the chaos of the build-up to the Champions League Final in Paris and that the scenes witnessed must ‘never happen again.’
Fans were treated abhorrently as many were denied entry to the ground and witnessed heavy-handed tactics used by the French authorities outside the Stade de France Stadium, delaying kick-off by over 30 minutes.
‘The situation outside? I heard about it first-hand from my family because they were in the middle of everything’
UEFA have launched their own independent review into the disturbing scenes that took place before Liverpool’s defeat to Real Madrid and Klopp has said that he was only made aware of the events that occurred the day after the final.
“There are different things to talk about. Some of them I think it makes no sense to talk about because there is an ongoing investigation,” he explained.
“The situation outside? I heard about it first-hand from my family because they were in the middle of everything. They texted me before the game, ‘We are in, good luck’ stuff like this, but they were pretty much one and a half hours away from being in the stadium.
“What happened to them happened to everyone, pretty much. Two or three people I spoke to were lucky, they got in and were waiting. Then there were all the issues throughout the game. There were a lot of spots occupied definitely by people without tickets but they were not Liverpool supporters.”
‘We all know how beautiful Paris is and the big events they have got coming up in the next few years. But these kinds of things need to be sorted and clarified’
Klopp also questioned UEFA’s decision to host the final in Paris after it was moved from St Petersburg due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
He added: “We all know how beautiful Paris is and the big events they have got coming up in the next few years. But these kinds of things need to be sorted and clarified. I think we were really lucky that more did not happen. We have to make sure it does not happen again.
“I think in Paris, the authorities would have known about the regional issues there. Anyway, UEFA decided pretty quick that it would be in Paris. There were other cities, obviously, where it could have been held. I understand that they got the information pretty late.
“So how to organise it? You need somewhere it is easy to organise — and UEFA and Paris, this is not the first time they have worked together, all these kind of things. I’m 100 per cent sure that nobody made a mistake intentionally. It’s not that everyone thought: ‘Ah, pfft, who cares how supporters get in!’ But the mistakes still happened and now we have to sort it.”
Related links:
- ‘Operational failures to blame’, not Liverpool fans, for Champions League final chaos
- Paris police chief finally apologises for tear gassing Liverpool fans before Champions League final
- Merseyside police defend ‘exemplary’ Liverpool fans tear gassed by French police
