Klopp resists Ceferin resignation calls but criticises UEFA for ‘worst possible’ Champions League final choice

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is under pressure after a damning report into events surrounding last season’s Champions League final was released.
UEFA president Aleksander CeferinUEFA president Aleksander Ceferin
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin

Jurgen Klopp has pushed back on calls for UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin to resign in the aftermath of a damning report into events at last season's Champions League final.

But the Liverpool boss shared his belief that someone at European football's governing body should pay the price for making the 'worst possible' choice in selecting Paris' Stade de France as the host venue.

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Earlier this week, a panel of experts published the findings of their investigation into the chaotic scenes that preceded Liverpool's meeting with Real Madrid last May.

The report laid blame squarely at the feet of UEFA and the French authorities, while also crediting Liverpool supporters for saving their fellow fans' lives in the face of dangerous crushes exacerbated by heavy handed policing.

These revelations have created pressure on Ceferin, who is expected to stand unopposed for re-election later this year, but when asked if the Slovenian should step down, Klopp replied: "No. I'm not sure who made the decision, to be honest.

"I'm a boss of some people as well and a lot of things I'm not 100% in the subject so I get information from people and then I make a decision.

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"The better the information is, the better the decisions are. So Mr. Ceferin maybe made the decision but somebody put all the papers together [saying] what is the best place, I can't see him flying to Paris, Rome, Berlin [to see].

"Maybe one of them should [resign]?"

The decision to take the Champions League final to Paris had to be made at short notice after Russia were stripped of the right to host the game following their invasion of Ukraine last February.

But Klopp not only believes that UEFA picked the wrong venue, he also feels that preparations around security on the day were flawed.

He continued: "I think really Paris was the worst possible [choice] in that specific area on that day.

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"Not a stadium that is used to it every two weeks like a lot of big stadiums in Europe are, big cities in Europe where they play every two weeks.

"It could have gone to Wembley, I don't know when it was last time so maybe that doesn't work but it's a special situation. It could have gone to Berlin.

"Okay, Madrid [Santiago Bernabeu] is in a rebuild but other places are probably available. From the first moment I thought it was not a good idea. But in the end, this specific place could have been organised much better than it was.

"In the moment UEFA makes the decision, I think they make it because they think it's right, what other reason would it be? And then some people who work there should have done better because everybody who was there knows that the people who work there didn't know 100% what they were doing.

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"They were not used to these big crowds, you cannot work with volunteers on a day like this when so many people arrive, volunteers for the first time or second time or whatever. You need experienced people and then it can be a great day but this day, obviously, it was different."