Uefa pre-prepared Champions League final statement blaming ‘late’ fans

Uefa statement apparently blaming Liverpool fans for delaying 2022 Champions League final was written before day of match

BLAME GAME: Liverpool fans stuck outside the ground as the kick off was delayed during the UEFA Champions League Final at the Stade de France, Paris. Pic: PA

Uefa’s statement apparently blaming Liverpool supporters for causing the delay to the start of the Champions League final in Paris was pre-prepared a considerable time before the day of the match, the Guardian has learned. The statement, put up on the big screen at the Stade de France, announced that a delay to the scheduled 9pm kick-off of the final between Liverpool and Real Madrid had been caused by “late arrival of fans”.

The statement incensed Liverpool supporters, thousands of whom were still stuck in chaotic queues outside the stadium despite having arrived three or more hours before 9pm. Approximately 15,000 Liverpool supporters had been held up in a dangerous, bottleneck queue at a perimeter ticket checkpoint, then denied access to the stadium at turnstiles closed by stewards and police.