UEFA have opted to issue a full refund to the 19,618 Liverpool supporters who attended the Champions League final at the Stade de France. This completely clears the fans of the Reds, yet accused by the French authorities.
Whose fault is it ? Not to Liverpool supporters, obviously. Several months after the Champions League final fiasco at the Stade de France, UEFA decided to fully reimburse all Reds fans who had a ticket for this match against Real Madrid. Many of them had been deprived of access to the Stade de France, following an incredible mess.
As the Daily Mail points out, the independent report commissioned by UEFA highlighted the good behavior of Liverpool fans that evening, which prevented “a massive fatal catastrophe”, comparable to that of Hillsborough or Heysel. Conversely, the actions of the French police, who launched tear gas on the crowd, were singled out. And on the English side, we have still not digested the words of the French authorities, and in particular of the Minister of the Interior Gérard Darmanin, who had blamed the many Liverpool supporters without tickets, by inflating this figure “as an excuse to hide other failures”.
UEFA will issue refunds to all 19,618 Liverpool fans who had tickets for the Champions League after what happened in Paris. pic.twitter.com/ygRtMIhYGg
— The Anfield Wrap (@TheAnfieldWrap) March 7, 2023
From now on, UEFA is therefore making its mea culpa. “We recognize the negative experiences of these supporters that day and with this program we will reimburse the supporters who had purchased tickets and who were most affected by the difficulties in accessing the stadium”writes the European body in a press release.
This measure will concern the 19,618 tickets issued for Liverpool fans, the prices of which ranged from 70 to 690 euros each. The amount of the invoice should exceed 3 million euros.
