UEFA to refund all Liverpool fans who were at chaotic Champions League final in Paris

European football’s governing body UEFA will refund all 19,618 Liverpool fans who attended the Champions League final in Paris last year in an unprecedented move that will cost millions of pounds.

Ahead of the game against Real Madrid on May 28, Reds supporters were tear gassed, corralled and set upon by police outside the Stade de France as kick-off was delayed by over half-an-hour.

UEFA and French authorities blamed ticketless Liverpool fans for the scenes of chaos but an independent report determined there was no evidence to support the ‘reprehensible’ claims and said UEFA had to bear the ‘primary responsibility’ for the near disaster.

The report also stated that only the calmness of supporters - despite the delays, poor organistaion and provocation, prevented a ‘mass fatality catastrophe’ amid the safety failures around the stadium.

On Tuesday morning, UEFA announced in a statement that it would refund all the Liverpool fans who went to the final in Paris.

​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​It read: ​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​“UEFA will implement a special refund scheme for fans who were most affected when accessing the Stade de France on 28th May 2022.​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​ Refunds will be available to all fans with tickets for gates A, B, C, X, Y and Z, where the most difficult circumstances were reported.” ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

“In addition, all fans who according to the access control data did not enter the stadium before 21:00 CEST (the originally-scheduled kick-off time) or who were not able to enter the stadium at all will be eligible for a refund.

“Given these criteria, the special refund scheme covers all of the Liverpool FC ticket allocation for the Final, i.e. 19,618 tickets. Due to the nature of the original ticket sales process, whereby Liverpool fans purchased tickets from Liverpool FC and not directly from UEFA, UEFA has requested that the club implements the refunds.”

Liverpool City Region metro mayor Steve Rotheram, who was at the game, gave evidence to the French Senate in June 2022 during the course of a series of investigations into the problems at the final.

Mr Rotheram, who was robbed outside the stadium, said he witnessed riot police seeking out trouble and blasted senior French officials who had concocted ‘misleading’ and ‘spurious claims’ against Liverpool fans to try and escape blame.

He also singled out UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin for criticism, saying he had not received an adequate response to the queries he sent to their Swiss HQ.

Last week, Liverpool MP for West Derby Ian Byrne led a debate at Westminster Hall, discussing the findings of the independent review into the 2022 final.

He also read a statement from a Hillsborough survivor, which read: “Thirty-three years ago I escaped the life threatening crush at Hillsborough and now I face a situation where one slip or trip and I could have been again witnessing deaths at a football match.

“These things happen, people make mistakes and they need to learn from them, only here, again, I had to observe the police and authorities invent a pack of lies and pass the blame on to innocent people rather than take responsibilities for their own failings.

“Thirty-three years ago the police did all they could to fabricate a false narrative. Here we are with the French authorities doing exactly the same.”

Mr Byrne went on to thank those behind the report and journalists for fighting for the truth.