Liverpool mayor's chilling report from Champions League final

Steve Rotherham criticises authorities

Posted Saturday, June 11, 2022 by Marca.com

Liverpool mayor Steve Rotherham has issued scathing criticism of the Champions League final which saw both Liverpool and Real Madrid fans endure things no one should have to expect at such an event.

Footage and first-hand accounts emerged straight away, but in the days that followed the showpiece event it became even clearer how much trouble there had been.

The view held by many, both of a red and white persuasion, is that the unfortunate scenes had been the product of mismanagement by authorities.

Rotherham has joined those voices, with particularly harsh words for the French police.

"While fans travelled to the ground hoping for the night of their lives, it appears that the Gendarmerie [French national police] went looking for conflict," said Rotherham.

"[UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin] was not interested in what was happening outside. In fact quite the opposite; his arrogance astounded me.

"He was saying the authorities have killed themselves to get that game on - and I appealed to him and said 'well don't kill the fans outside' and he stopped the conversation."

Rotherham said that he witnessed first hand the brutal welcome fans received outside the stadium in Paris.

"Indiscriminate use of tear gas, that is not how you control," Rotherham told the French senate.

The metro mayor also revealed that he himself was robbed of personal items.

Many fans, both of Liverpool and Real Madrid, have told of how organised gangs of criminals had easy access to prey on them as they attempted to make their way to the stadium.