Merseyside Police: Exemplary behaviour from vast majority of Liverpool fans in Paris

Merseyside Police say the “vast majority” of Liverpool fans behaved in an “exemplary manner” in Paris and the force will fully support an investigation into chaos ahead of the Champions League final.

The kick-off for the showpiece at the Stade de France on Saturday was delayed by over half an hour due to concerning scenes outside the ground.

UEFA put the delay down to turnstiles being blocked at the Liverpool end of the stadium by thousands of fans who had purchased fake tickets, while a message on the big screen inside the stadium stated that the game was unable to start on time due to “the late arrival of fans”.

Police used tear gas to try and disperse the crowds outside the stadium before a final that ended in a 1-0 victory for Real Madrid courtesy of Vinicius Junior’s second-half goal.

Liverpool officially requested a formal investigation into the causes of the “unacceptable issues”.

Governing body UEFA vowed to review these matters urgently, together with the French authorities and the French Football Federation.

Merseyside Police on Sunday released a statement passing on the observations from their officers who were in attendance in Paris.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | We have issued the following statement following last night’s Champions League Final: pic.twitter.com/1941jltZQ9

— Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) May 29, 2022

Assistant chief constable Chris Green said: “We are aware of a number of reports relating to incidents both before and after last night’s Champions League final at the Stade de France in Paris.

“We are also aware that Liverpool FC have requested a formal investigation from UEFA and we will be linking in with the club, UEFA and the UK Football Policing Unit to pass on the observations of our officers who attended the game and took part in the pre-match meetings with the relevant authorities.

“As with all European matches officers from Merseyside were deployed in France to work in an observatory and advisory capacity with local officers, and they reported that the vast majority of fans behaved in an exemplary manner, arriving at turnstiles early and queueing as directed and their observations will be passed on to the relevant authorities as part of the debrief for the game.

“Many thousands of fans have travelled throughout the season to matches across Europe and we have worked closely with our supporter groups, the club and European hosts to ensure the matches passed without incident and fans were kept safe.

“Our officers returning today will conduct a formal debrief to ensure that we can fully support any subsequent investigation following last night’s game.

“We know that people would have witnessed a lot of distressing scenes last night and we wish everyone returning home from Paris a safe journey.”