Liverpool are 'the worst fans in Europe' says Uefa report
By Andy Hunter
Published: 04 June 2007
http://sport.independent.co.uk/footb...cle2611680.ece
Uefa intensified its argument with Liverpool over the ticket chaos at the European Cup final yesterday by leaking details of a report which brands the club's supporters as the "worst behaved in Europe".
Michel Platini, the president of European football's governing body, will present the findings of a four-year investigation to the Sports minister, Richard Caborn, tomorrow and demand that Liverpool are ordered to improve security checks on those who follow the club abroad. The report, based on evidence collected by undercover police officers, details 25 disturbances involving Liverpool supporters at European away games since 2003 but the catalyst for the meeting between Platini and Caborn in Brussels is the final against Milan in Athens and the violence that occurred outside the Olympic Stadium on 23 May.
A Uefa spokesman, William Gaillard, accused Liverpool supporters of stealing tickets "out of the hands of children", adding, "we know what happened in Athens and Liverpool fans were the cause of most of the trouble there".
Uefa and Liverpool have been at loggerheads over the circumstances that led to approximately 2,000 fans with tickets for the game being locked out of the stadium and tear-gassed by Greek police when they attempted to gain entry. The Anfield club claim inadequate security, a meagre ticket allocation and the choice of an athletics venue were the principal causes of the disturbances, and had highlighted those precise concerns in a report submitted to Uefa five days before the final.
Uefa's counter-argument is that thousands of ticketless fans who rushed the gates, gained access with forged tickets or stole from genuine ticket-holders were to blame for filling the Olympic Stadium beyond capacity and leaving the Greek authorities no option but to shut the gates early.
The current stand-off could have repercussions for both sides. One ticket-holder, Paul Gregory, has threatened to sue Platini, having missed the game and been caught in a crush against the police cordon outside the stadium. Uefa, for its part, is considering a heavy punishment for the Anfield club, but the governing body has demonstrated its intention to lay the blame solely on Liverpool by releasing details of a wide-ranging investigation into the club's support.
Gaillard revealed: "The incidents involving Liverpool fans have been well known to us before the trouble at the Champions League final which involved Liverpool fans. That was just the latest example. What other set of fans steal tickets from their fellow supporters or out of the hands of children?
"We have an independent police report mentioning 25 incidents since 2003 caused by Liverpool fans away from home. That's the most of any team in Europe and these are in the report. We should all be very pleased that no one was hurt."
Perversely, Gaillard cited the good behaviour of Liverpool supporters before the final with Milan as a reason to dismiss concerns that an allocation of 17,000 tickets to each finalist would invite trouble and allow the black market to flourish. He also indicated that the theft of 100 official Champions League flags at the Olympic Stadium would be one of the 25 incidents mentioned in the report, even though they were removed by both sets of supporters.
Liverpool cannot comment on the report until it has been delivered to Caborn and themselves, and are braced for government pressure to monitor their ticket distribution. But they responded to the leaked allegations last night by insisting that they were an attempt by Uefa to distance itself from responsibility for the poor organisation of its showpiece event.
A club spokesman said: "The shortcomings in the management of the situation in Athens were apparent to anyone who was there and this latest statement from Uefa should not deflect attention away from that reality."
The Liverpool chief executive, Rick Parry, appealed to Uefa for a greater ticket allocation in the weeks preceding the final but was informed that 29,000 tickets for the 63,000-capacity stadium were designated for its "football family" - the catch-all phrase for sponsors, corporate guests and those who received tickets through a public ballot.
But Liverpool were criticised by supporters for exacerbating the problem by distributing 6,000 tickets among their own corporate clients and changing the policy of giving season-ticket holders preference for European final tickets.
"To have a stadium with no counting system and no turnstiles is unforgivable for any standard of game, let alone a major final," said Parry. "We produced a report for Uefa a week beforehand predicting, sadly, all of the things that did go wrong. We told Uefa our intelligence suggested there were 5,000 forged tickets in existence. They knew and we knew, that thousands of fans would travel without tickets and we stressed the need for a proper check at the outer cordon.
"We do not condone the behaviour of Liverpool fans who charged gates, stole tickets or who knowingly had forgeries, that is clear, but we are hugely concerned many innocent fans with valid tickets did not get in and checks at the outer cordons did not work."
Liverpool's new American owners, George Gillet and Tom Hicks, have promised to reimburse ticket-holders who did not get to see the game and many have returned from Athens with harrowing accounts of a crush that occurred when it was announced the stadium was full.and police vans were driven across the entrance. Much of the anger has been directed towards Uefa and the Greek authorities, but many have also blamed the ticketless fans who forced their way inside the ground at the expense of those with tickets.
Phil Hammond, whose son Philip was among the 96 Liverpool supporters who died in the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 and is now chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, has stated: "My heart sank as I stood and watched what was happening. After what happened at Sheffield in 1989 I couldn't believe Liverpool fans, of all people, could do such dangerous things. I honestly feared people were going to get crushed and we were going to have another Hillsborough. (so that was how the Hillsborough tragedy happened
)
"It was disgusting," Hammond added. "The people who stormed into the stadium are the scum of the earth. They put at risk hundreds of lives and they should be ashamed of themselves. The vast majority of Liverpool fans are impeccably behaved but there's always been a hard core of mindless thugs that ruin it for the rest. It hurts me to say this but I won't be following Liverpool on their travels in the future."
Bad boys of Europe? Why Liverpool are far from alone
Liverpool fans may have been described as the worst in Europe, but other recent incidents suggest that the problem is not confined to England.
Rome, March 2006
Three Middlesbrough fans were stabbed before the club's Uefa Cup game against Roma. The attack was blamed on Roma ultras. Five years earlier, ultras were also blamed when five Liverpool fans were stabbed.
Paris, November 2006
A Paris St-Germain fan was shot dead by police and another seriously injured during fighting between PSG fans and the police, after PSG lost 4-2 to the Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Parc des Prince in a Uefa Cup match. Around 100 PSG fans chased a French Hapoel fan, shouting anti-semitic slogans. A black plain-clothes police officer who tried to protect the Hapoel supporter, was also attacked. He then fired tear gas, before he drew his gun. One fan was shot dead and another seriously injured.
Nancy, December 2006
Feyenoord fans fought and smashed windows before ripping out and throwing seats during the Uefa Cup tie against Nancy. Police used tear gas, forcing the referee to halt the match.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
no wonder 3/4th of the stadium was filled with Scousers
By Andy Hunter
Published: 04 June 2007
http://sport.independent.co.uk/footb...cle2611680.ece
Uefa intensified its argument with Liverpool over the ticket chaos at the European Cup final yesterday by leaking details of a report which brands the club's supporters as the "worst behaved in Europe".
Michel Platini, the president of European football's governing body, will present the findings of a four-year investigation to the Sports minister, Richard Caborn, tomorrow and demand that Liverpool are ordered to improve security checks on those who follow the club abroad. The report, based on evidence collected by undercover police officers, details 25 disturbances involving Liverpool supporters at European away games since 2003 but the catalyst for the meeting between Platini and Caborn in Brussels is the final against Milan in Athens and the violence that occurred outside the Olympic Stadium on 23 May.
A Uefa spokesman, William Gaillard, accused Liverpool supporters of stealing tickets "out of the hands of children", adding, "we know what happened in Athens and Liverpool fans were the cause of most of the trouble there".
Uefa and Liverpool have been at loggerheads over the circumstances that led to approximately 2,000 fans with tickets for the game being locked out of the stadium and tear-gassed by Greek police when they attempted to gain entry. The Anfield club claim inadequate security, a meagre ticket allocation and the choice of an athletics venue were the principal causes of the disturbances, and had highlighted those precise concerns in a report submitted to Uefa five days before the final.
Uefa's counter-argument is that thousands of ticketless fans who rushed the gates, gained access with forged tickets or stole from genuine ticket-holders were to blame for filling the Olympic Stadium beyond capacity and leaving the Greek authorities no option but to shut the gates early.
The current stand-off could have repercussions for both sides. One ticket-holder, Paul Gregory, has threatened to sue Platini, having missed the game and been caught in a crush against the police cordon outside the stadium. Uefa, for its part, is considering a heavy punishment for the Anfield club, but the governing body has demonstrated its intention to lay the blame solely on Liverpool by releasing details of a wide-ranging investigation into the club's support.
Gaillard revealed: "The incidents involving Liverpool fans have been well known to us before the trouble at the Champions League final which involved Liverpool fans. That was just the latest example. What other set of fans steal tickets from their fellow supporters or out of the hands of children?
"We have an independent police report mentioning 25 incidents since 2003 caused by Liverpool fans away from home. That's the most of any team in Europe and these are in the report. We should all be very pleased that no one was hurt."
Perversely, Gaillard cited the good behaviour of Liverpool supporters before the final with Milan as a reason to dismiss concerns that an allocation of 17,000 tickets to each finalist would invite trouble and allow the black market to flourish. He also indicated that the theft of 100 official Champions League flags at the Olympic Stadium would be one of the 25 incidents mentioned in the report, even though they were removed by both sets of supporters.
Liverpool cannot comment on the report until it has been delivered to Caborn and themselves, and are braced for government pressure to monitor their ticket distribution. But they responded to the leaked allegations last night by insisting that they were an attempt by Uefa to distance itself from responsibility for the poor organisation of its showpiece event.
A club spokesman said: "The shortcomings in the management of the situation in Athens were apparent to anyone who was there and this latest statement from Uefa should not deflect attention away from that reality."
The Liverpool chief executive, Rick Parry, appealed to Uefa for a greater ticket allocation in the weeks preceding the final but was informed that 29,000 tickets for the 63,000-capacity stadium were designated for its "football family" - the catch-all phrase for sponsors, corporate guests and those who received tickets through a public ballot.
But Liverpool were criticised by supporters for exacerbating the problem by distributing 6,000 tickets among their own corporate clients and changing the policy of giving season-ticket holders preference for European final tickets.
"To have a stadium with no counting system and no turnstiles is unforgivable for any standard of game, let alone a major final," said Parry. "We produced a report for Uefa a week beforehand predicting, sadly, all of the things that did go wrong. We told Uefa our intelligence suggested there were 5,000 forged tickets in existence. They knew and we knew, that thousands of fans would travel without tickets and we stressed the need for a proper check at the outer cordon.
"We do not condone the behaviour of Liverpool fans who charged gates, stole tickets or who knowingly had forgeries, that is clear, but we are hugely concerned many innocent fans with valid tickets did not get in and checks at the outer cordons did not work."
Liverpool's new American owners, George Gillet and Tom Hicks, have promised to reimburse ticket-holders who did not get to see the game and many have returned from Athens with harrowing accounts of a crush that occurred when it was announced the stadium was full.and police vans were driven across the entrance. Much of the anger has been directed towards Uefa and the Greek authorities, but many have also blamed the ticketless fans who forced their way inside the ground at the expense of those with tickets.
Phil Hammond, whose son Philip was among the 96 Liverpool supporters who died in the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 and is now chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, has stated: "My heart sank as I stood and watched what was happening. After what happened at Sheffield in 1989 I couldn't believe Liverpool fans, of all people, could do such dangerous things. I honestly feared people were going to get crushed and we were going to have another Hillsborough. (so that was how the Hillsborough tragedy happened
)"It was disgusting," Hammond added. "The people who stormed into the stadium are the scum of the earth. They put at risk hundreds of lives and they should be ashamed of themselves. The vast majority of Liverpool fans are impeccably behaved but there's always been a hard core of mindless thugs that ruin it for the rest. It hurts me to say this but I won't be following Liverpool on their travels in the future."
Bad boys of Europe? Why Liverpool are far from alone
Liverpool fans may have been described as the worst in Europe, but other recent incidents suggest that the problem is not confined to England.
Rome, March 2006
Three Middlesbrough fans were stabbed before the club's Uefa Cup game against Roma. The attack was blamed on Roma ultras. Five years earlier, ultras were also blamed when five Liverpool fans were stabbed.
Paris, November 2006
A Paris St-Germain fan was shot dead by police and another seriously injured during fighting between PSG fans and the police, after PSG lost 4-2 to the Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Parc des Prince in a Uefa Cup match. Around 100 PSG fans chased a French Hapoel fan, shouting anti-semitic slogans. A black plain-clothes police officer who tried to protect the Hapoel supporter, was also attacked. He then fired tear gas, before he drew his gun. One fan was shot dead and another seriously injured.
Nancy, December 2006
Feyenoord fans fought and smashed windows before ripping out and throwing seats during the Uefa Cup tie against Nancy. Police used tear gas, forcing the referee to halt the match.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
no wonder 3/4th of the stadium was filled with Scousers
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