A deputy mayor of Paris has urged French authorities to stop ‘living in denial’ and has apologised to Liverpool fans for their treatment at the Champions League final.
Ugly scenes outside the Stade de France, including the use of tear gas, have marred what was supposed to be a fantastic occasion,
with Liverpool demanding an apology after French officials continued to blame the Reds’ supporters for the incidents.
Richard Bouigue, the deputy mayor of the 12th arrondissement of Paris, wrote a letter to
Liverpool fan group Spirit of Shankly to hit out against the treatment of supporters, insisting fans could not have been solely responsible for what happened.
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“I would like to express my deep regret for the serious incidents that took place at the
beginning of the evening at the Stade de France and that prevented Liverpool fans from
experiencing this long-awaited time of collective celebration,” he wrote.
“I bitterly regret that the Liverpool fans were singled out for criticism and that they were said to be solely responsible for the failure to organise the final.
“Here again, we must cut through the useless polemics, establish the facts, and compare
them to the smooth running of the fan zone [45,000 Liverpool fans gathered in the official fan zone earlier in the day].
“Fans are not schizophrenic: Dr Jekyll in the morning and Mr Hyde in the evening at the Stade de France.
The time for official denial is over, the time for apologies must be imposed.
“I deplore the dysfunctions in the organisation of the game and the lack of maintenance of order that led to this real fiasco.
We owe you – and ourselves as well – a serious and thorough investigation to be carried out in
the next few days involving representatives of the Liverpool supporters and the competent English authorities.
“All light must be shed, the responsibilities identified, and improvements made so that this type of chaos,
which must have revived the Hillsborough tragedy for many fans, never happens again.”
Liverpool are continuing to collect witness testimony of the events, while UEFA have confirmed that they are conducting their own investigation into what happened.
