UEFA blamed for near-disaster at final

GENEVA, Feb 14: UEFA-appointed investigators have held European football ruling body mostly responsible for chaotic security failures at the 2022 Champions League final in Paris that put the lives of Liverpool and Real Madrid fans at risk.
“It is remarkable that no one lost their life,” the investigation panel wrote in a 220-page document published Monday into a near “mass fatality catastrophe” at the biggest club game in world soccer.
“The panel has concluded that UEFA, as event owner, bears primary responsibility for failures which almost led to disaster,” the report said.
A failed security operation saw tens of thousands of fans held in increasingly crushed queues for hours before the May 28 game at the 75,000-capacity Stade de France, which is a key venue for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Many fans were fired on with tear gas by police before the game, which was delayed by nearly 40 minutes. After Madrid’s 1-0 win, dozens were robbed leaving the stadium by local residents in the impoverished Saint-Denis neighborhood.
UEFA statements during the chaos and after the game blamed Liverpool fans for arriving at the stadium late and using fake tickets to try to gain entry wrongly blamed on both counts, the report said.
An apology to Liverpool supporters for “the experiences of many of them” and the unjust blaming was made Monday by UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis.The panel, appointed seven months ago by UEFA, aimed blame Monday at leadership of both the soccer body and its commercial subsidiary UEFA Events, and French public authorities. The next Champions League final is hosted in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 10. (AP)