Dylan Bettencourt
Clashes between Liverpool fans and French police before kickoff marred the biggest night in European football.
Safety concerns outside the Stade de France stadium in Paris resulted in a 36-minute delay to proceedings.
Thousands of seats remained empty as Liverpool fans struggled to get into the stadium with congestion resulting in police deploying teargas and using pepper spray.
Video footage of the scenes outside the stadium raised concerns of Uefa’s planning of a major event such as the final.
Uefa claimed after the game that Liverpool fans “who had purchased fake tickets which did not work” were to blame for the unsavoury scenes.
Liverpool responded by saying the club was hugely disappointed with the treatment of their club’s fans.
“Supporters should not have to experience the scenes we have witnessed tonight. We have officially requested a formal investigation into the causes of these unacceptable issues,” Liverpool said in a statement.
The potential safety issues arose two hours before kickoff when Uefa officials began pre-checking match tickets which created a bottleneck and led to the congestion.
The pre-check of tickets made sense on paper given the recent concerns with English football fans following the drama surrounding matchday tickets for the Euro 2020 final, but didn’t work on the ground.
After the situation became increasingly dangerous, the pre-checking process of tickets was waived which allowed fans to flow through the gates.
Uefa confirmed that teargas and pepper sprays were used to disperse fans and the governing body offered their apologies.
“As numbers outside the stadium continued to build up after kickoff, the police dispersed them with tear gas and forced them away from the stadium,” Uefa said in a statement.
“Uefa is sympathetic to those affected by these events and will further review these matters urgently together with the French police and authorities, and the French Football Federation.”
This incident serves as yet another embarrassment for Uefa following the Euro 2020 final where thousands of fans attempted to enter the stadium without tickets, causing clashes between fans and law enforcement.
The Europa League final was also tainted by a lack of stewards in the stadium and the water in the stadium being cut off in both the taps and the bathrooms before kickoff while temperatures reached 30c degrees Celsius.
Image source: @NBCNews
