May 29, 2022 thesundaytimes.co.uk/sport
SPORT
THE FALL AND FALL
OF MAN UTD
SPECIAL REPORT,
P10-13
Paul Rowan,
Hamzah Khalique-LoonatLiverpool fans were pepper-sprayed
by French police amid chaotic scenes
in the build-up to the Champions
League final, the start of which was
delayed by more than 30 minutes
with thousands of supporters unable
to enter the stadium.
Liverpool fans blamed stewarding
arrangements, long delays in getting
into the ground and heavy-handed
police tactics for the trouble, while
Uefa initially said the game had been
delayed because of the late arrival of
fans. There were also reports of large
numbers of ticketless supporters try-
ing to enter the stadium and crushes
developing, though there were no
reports of any serious injuries.
Video footage on social media
showed police pepper-spraying sup-
porters who were stuck outside a
locked gate at one end of the ground,
which fans said was supposed to be
opened to let them in. Young Liver-
pool supporters were shown blocking
their faces with their replica shirts
while others waved their tickets in
the air to show that they were bona
fide fans.
The trouble cast a pall over the
final, which Liverpool lost 1-0, with
the former players Steve McMana-
man, Michael Owen and Steven Ger-
rard, who were appearing on BT
Sport, calling for calm in the build-up
to the game. The BBC pundit and
former Blackburn Rovers player Chris
Sutton was among those outside the
stadium and commented: “Coming
in, there was a lot of shoving and
pushing. There were fans trying to get
through because there were ticket
checks and there were some fans who
didn’t have tickets and they were the
ones causing the problems.
“It was quite harrowing for a lot of
people and it was taking far too long to
get through. The big issue in this is
that there were a lot of fans trying to
get in who didn’t have tickets and
there is an element of responsibility
from these fans not to try and get in
and do the right thing.”
After arriving at the Stade de
France railway station, supporters
were instructed by stewards and
police to walk down a busy road and
then directed into a dangerous bottle-
neck at the northwest corner of the
stadium. On the walk to that corner,
fans passed a series of locked gates,
which stewards instructed them to
move away from.
The fans were made to wait in the
area for about 45 minutes, during
which the group swelled. Despite the
pleas of supporters to the policeCONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Pain
in Paris
Fans pepper-sprayed in crowd
fiasco before Liverpool lose
Champions League final
01
LIVERPOOL REAL MADRID
10 - 13
Vinícius Júnior
celebrates the
goal that gave
Real Madrid the
Champions
League trophy.
Below, left,
frustrated fans
queue outside
the ground as
police resort to
the use of
pepper sprayMARC ASPLAND