Topline
The kickoff of the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid was delayed for over 30 minutes Saturday with large numbers of Liverpool fans unable to enter the stadium, leading to chaos as police used pepper spray on the crowd.
Police use pepper spray against fans outside the stadium as the kick off is delayed during the UEFA … [+]
Key Facts
The first 15-minute delay was announced around 8:50 p.m. local time on a screen inside Stade de France, outside of Paris, saying it was “due to the late arrival of fans” and as fans inside noted many empty seats on the side reserved for Liverpool supporters.
Fans outside of the stadium had been waiting for more than an hour in long lines as officials attempted to fix a system ticketing error, the New York Times reports.
Videos posted to social media appeared to show Liverpool fans, some of whom holding tickets, being pepper sprayed by police wearing riot gear.
An additional delay pushed back the start time until 9:30 p.m., with hundreds of fans still outside of the stadium.
The game kicked off around 9:36 p.m. Paris time, though an ESPN reporter said in a tweet it appeared there were some people inside the stadium without seats and standing in the stairways.
Crucial Quote
“Fans at the Champions League final bear no responsibility for tonight’s fiasco,” Ronan Evan, the executive director of Football Supporters Europe, told the Times. “They are victims here. Thousands are still trapped outside the stadium, remaining calm in the face of a completely unreasonable situation.”
Tangent
Ticketless fans pushed their way into last year’s European Championship final held at Wembley Stadium outside of London, creating safety issues inside the stadium. A Wembley spokesperson said at the time “a small group of people got into the stadium,” though witnesses told the Guardian the number was likely in the hundreds. A separate tragedy occurred in 1989 when police ordered an additional entrance to be opened to ease overcrowding outside Hillsborough Stadium for the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The influx of fans led to an intense crowd crush, causing the death of 97 Liverpool fans.
Further Reading
Champions League Final Live: Liverpool vs. Real Madrid (The New York Times)
England fans force way into Wembley without tickets for Euro 2020 final (The Guardian)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2022/05/28/liverpool-supporters-pepper-sprayed-champions-league-final-delayed-30-minutes-as-hundreds-stuck-outside/