Liverpool vs Real Madrid: UEFA To Reimburse Liverpool Fans Who Attended Paris Champions League Final

The Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Paris last year was marred by mayhem, and UEFA said on Tuesday that it will refund all Liverpool fans who went. The governing body of European football, which received harsh criticism for organisational shortcomings that "almost led to disaster"  in an independent report released last month, announced that its refund programme would cover the entire nearly 20,000 Liverpool allocation as well as Real Madrid fans and other spectators impacted by the unrest outside the stadium. "Where the most challenging situations were recorded,"  UEFA stated, "refunds will be offered to all spectators.,"  "Given these criteria, the special refund scheme covers all of the Liverpool FC ticket allocation for the final, i.e., 19,618 tickets,"  UEFA said, adding that all ticket-holders who did not enter the stadium by the originally scheduled kick-off time or could not get in at all would also receive a refund. On May 28, Real's 1-0 victory in France's national stadium was overshadowed by the goings-on outside. The start of the game was delayed by 37 minutes due to fans' difficulties entering the stadium as police forced them into jam-packed jams as they approached.

Then, when thousands of fans were confined behind metal gates around the stadium, police began to use tear gas on them. When hundreds of Liverpool supporters were detained for hours outside the stadium prior to kickoff, UEFA attempted to place the responsibility on the late arrival of the fans. Fans were left "fearing for their lives" amid a "maelstrom of turmoil and terror," according to a prominent Liverpool supporters' organisation called Spirit of Shankly. The issue, according to the French authorities, was "industrial scale fraud" using bogus tickets. An investigation by the French Senate in July concluded that the chaos was caused by improperly implemented security measures. "UEFA, as event owner, has main responsibility for failings that almost resulted in calamity," the independent assessment stated.

Theodore Theodoridis, general secretary of UEFA, stated, "We have taken into account a great number of views voiced both publicly and privately, and we feel we have established a structure that is thorough and fair. "With this plan, we will repay fans who had purchased tickets and who were the most affected by the problems in reaching the stadium," the statement said. "We recognise the poor experiences of those supporters on the day. The English team issued a succinct statement that said, "This is a UEFA refund policy, not a Liverpool FC policy." The club's responsibility as the match's ticket agent is to handle UEFA's directive to issue refunds to eligible fans who purchased match tickets through LFC. The final's images damaged France's prestige.for hosting significant sporting occasions before to the Rugby World Cup this year and the 2024 Summer Olympics, both of which will feature events in the Stade de France. On June 10, the 2018 Champions League final is scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Turkey.