The English club Liverpool, through its president Tom Werner, goes to the front on Tuesday to defend its supporters following the numerous criticisms and accusations leveled against the English on Monday by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin and the news Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.
Since Saturday, Darmanin has continued to point out the attitude of the British present near the Stade de France for the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid. He first mentioned “a massive, industrial fraud of fake tickets” specifying a total of “30,000 to 40,000 supporters” without tickets or with fake tickets in Saint-Denis.
The minister even strongly criticized the communication made by the club and in particular that of its German coach Jürgen Klopp who would have encouraged the supporters of the Reds – even without a ticket – to go to Paris this weekend.
The debate has continued to grow since the fourteenth coronation of the Merengues, where different protagonists meet: French politicians, European football authorities, groups of British supporters… An investigation was opened on Monday by UEFA in order to ” examine the decision-making, responsibilities and behaviors of all parties involved in the final”.
The full letter from Liverpool Chairman Tom Werner:
“Dear Minister, I am writing to you today because I am in complete disbelief that a French government minister, in a position of enormous responsibility and influence, could make a series of unproven statements on a matter of such significance even before a proper, formal and independent investigative process has taken place.
The events that took place in and around the Stade de France on Saturday evening during the UEFA Champions League final were not only incredibly dangerous for all involved, but also raised serious questions about the organization and functioning of the event. That should be the focus of all interested parties today rather than pursuing a blame strategy via a press conference.
I have received countless emails from frightened Liverpool fans who have been subjected to police harassment, pepper spray and tear gas. Moreover, the situation was no better at the end of the evening than at the beginning, with many fans being robbed and attacked by gangs. It was clear that the fans were forced to go through a bottleneck, passing more than 2 hours in queues. One person said they were ‘trapped against the doors, no one moving and no one on the other side of the doors communicating at all’. These fans were being treated like cattle. How can lost data and unverified claims presented this morning come close to fact without a truly independent and transparent investigation with the right stakeholders, including our supporters, our club and others take place. Worse still, these claims undermine the search for truth and transparency that should underpin the motivations of any organization or individual wishing to ensure that such unacceptable scenes never happen again.
The fact that your public stance goes against this goal is a concern in itself. That you did so without any recourse to us or our supporters is even more important. All voices must count in this process, and they must count equally and fairly.
As a club, we were already convinced that any investigation had to be impartial, independent and transparent. This point of view has only intensified as a direct result of your public comments and the impact they have had on a narrative that runs counter to the experiences of many. Your comments were irresponsible, unprofessional and completely disrespectful to the thousands of physically and emotionally hurt fans.
The UEFA Champions League final is expected to be one of the finest spectacles in world sport, and instead it turned into one of the worst security meltdowns in recent memory. On behalf of all the supporters who experienced this nightmare, I ask for your apologies and the assurance that the French authorities and UEFA allow an independent and transparent investigation to continue.”
