UEFA called itself to account – Newspaper Kommersant No. 28 (7473) dated 02/15/2023
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An independent commission from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has concluded that the main responsibility for the unrest that took place before the 2022 Champions League final, held in Paris, in which the Spanish “Real” defeated the English “Liverpool” by a minimum score, is UEFA itself. as “host” and organizer of the match. The commission nevertheless noted that part of the responsibility lies with the French authorities. They once again showed their inability to cope with a mass event.
An independent commission from UEFA, convened to investigate incidents that took place on the day of the 2022 Champions League final, has come to an interesting conclusion. UEFA itself is named as the main culprit in the incident. The report notes that UEFA was the “host” and “customer” of the event, and therefore is responsible for its implementation. “However, the police and the French Football Federation are also responsible due to their important role in ensuring public safety,” the report says.
Recall that the final of the Champions League on May 28 last year was hosted by Paris (Real Madrid defeated Liverpool with a score of 1:0). The French capital had almost no time to prepare for such a large-scale event. The match was supposed to take place in St. Petersburg, but after the start of events in Ukraine, UEFA decided to postpone it. Neither UEFA nor the French authorities, as follows from the report of the commission, which was headed by the Portuguese politician Tiago Brandan Rodrigues, did their job with due quality. Moreover, the report indicates that the actions of UEFA almost led to loss of life.
The start of the match was delayed by 37 minutes. This was accompanied by clashes with the police blocking the fans in the corridors designated by the authorities in front of the Stade de France. Many fans spent several hours in them. Before that, many of them were attacked by local residents (both sides were probably the initiators of the skirmishes). In addition, the fans came into conflict with the Paris police, who responded with tear gas. Eight police officers were injured in clashes with fans. More than a hundred fans were detained. In addition, the pass system to the stadium failed, which caused, according to the initial version of UEFA, traffic jams at the entrances to the stadium. Later, representatives of UEFA stated that problems with the passage to the stadium arose due to the massive release of fake tickets on the market. However, this assertion has not been confirmed. Moreover, it turned out that it was Liverpool fans who were subjected to strict control (there were no massive complaints from Real Madrid fans about ill-treatment). An investigation conducted by the French authorities confirmed the presence of flaws in the actions of local law enforcement agencies. At the end of June last year, the Minister of the Interior of France, Gerald Darmanin, on the air of RTL radio, apologized for the poor organization of the game, taking part of the responsibility for what had happened.
However, given the reputation of English fans, the special attention to them from the French police is not surprising. Especially after the story of 2016. That year, France hosted the European Football Championship and faced a natural riot of English fans in Marseille – this was on the eve of the match between England and Russia. It all started with the defeat of the central part of Marseille by drunken British. This was followed by the inclusion of a much smaller Russian delegation of hooligans in the events. She, due to her better training and organization, won an unconditional victory. The British were beaten in the city, and then in the stadium. And in hot pursuit, the police did not catch anyone at all. Just as she could not prevent the penetration of destructive elements into the arena. By the way, then at the entrance to the stadium there were also huge traffic jams.
Liverpool, after the publication of the report of the UEFA commission, issued a statement, the essence of which boils down to the full support of its fans. “The club welcomes the report, which fully justifies the Liverpool fans, while at the same time holding UEFA the main responsibility for organizational shortcomings. The group’s fact-based report also showed that there was a “clear and imminent danger of a deadly stampede,” the club said in a statement. For more drama, the Liverpool bosses remembered the tragedy in 1989 at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield. Then, during the semi-final match of the FA Cup between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool, due to errors in organizing the flow of fans, a crush arose. It led to the death of 96 people and the injury of 766 citizens. Fortunately, in the case of the Paris final there were no such serious consequences.
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