Thousands of Liverpool Football Club followers who watched their staff lose 1-0 to Real Madrid within the UEFA Champions League closing needed to endure damage previous to insult as they have been tear gassed, pepper sprayed and, in some circumstances, overwhelmed by safety personnel at Stade de France simply exterior Paris earlier than the match Saturday.
Sporadic incidents involving LFC followers being attacked continued all through the realm after as effectively.
Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox are a part of Fenway Sports Group. John Henry is almost all proprietor of each franchises and Tom Werner is their chairman.
Werner and Henry have been each on web site in Paris for the ultimate. A somber Henry represented Liverpool at midfield in the course of the post-game presentation of the medals for gamers from either side and the Champions League trophy.
A spokesperson for Liverpool instructed the Herald Sunday it was attempting to “establish what happened last night” with a automobile which will have contained passengers linked to the membership’s entrance workplace after the sport.
A Red Sox spokesperson referred the Herald to a press release issued by LFC Saturday regarding breakdown of safety forward of the match and to a video posted Sunday that includes Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan discussing the circumstances skilled by his staff’s supporters.
Liverpool is in search of a “full and independent investigation” into what occurred earlier than and after the sport.
“The breakdown of security in the perimeter was absolutely unacceptable and frankly the treatment of our fans, as well,” Hogan stated within the video. “The most important thing is that we know people are safe. It was an incredibly difficult night for a lot of people. We understand there were a lot of different experiences that took place over the course of the evening,” he added.
Before the sport, many Liverpool followers who have been ready to enter the stadium have been accosted by stadium safety and prohibited from sure gates. The begin of the sport was delayed for 37 minutes.
Henry was in Paris along with his spouse, Linda Pizzuti Henry. Werner was joined by his fiancee, ABC News medical correspondent Dr. Jen Ashton. Pizzuti Henry and Ashton posted photos on social media from the stadium earlier than the match.
Ashton shared a picture together with her youngsters, Alex and Chloe, who performs hockey for Harvard, on Instagram.
“No hardware for the Reds today but still plenty to remember with this Champions League final. Liverpool had some great chances but the RMA goalkeeper was truly the Man of the Match. Merci Paris; a bientot! #lfc #reds #ynwa,” she wrote.
French authorities and UEFA officers blamed the overcrowding earlier than the sport on the turnstiles on individuals with pretend tickets. French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra claimed 1000’s of English followers “complicated the work of stewards and police forces.”
LFC and Hogan refuted these claims. “It was an incredibly difficult, disappointing night. What happened outside the stadium completely overshadowed it. The stadium entry and the breakdown of security in the perimeter was absolutely unacceptable,” Hogan stated.
Multiple movies of Liverpool followers caught exterior the stadium have been shared on social media, together with one which confirmed followers shouting: “Let us in. We’ve got tickets.” Several followers broke via safety attempting to breach the stadium. Police officers with batons and riot shields ran from gate to gate to stop pockets of followers forcing their approach into the stadium with out displaying tickets.
“Pretty much all of our families were affected, I think,” Liverpool defender Andy Robertson stated. “Obviously my tickets were through the club and somehow somebody told one of my mates that he’s got a fake ticket which I can assure you definitely wasn’t because it was obviously through me. So then obviously the French police decided to throw tear gas on fans and families. It’s not been well-organized.”
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”