Tyrone Liverpool supporter ‘delighted’ as fans exonerated over chaos at Paris final

A KEEN Liverpool fan from Tyrone, who was at the Champions League Final in Paris between Liverpool and Real Madrid, has spoken of his relief that his fellow supporters have been absolved of any wrongdoing following widespread reports of trouble prior to the game.

Artigarvan man Keith Gordon and his fellow Kop-ite, Declan Devine, from Castlederg, were at the game in May, which took place in the Stade de France. The much-anticipated game was pushed back almost an hour on the night due to problems outside the stadium.

Following a night of trouble, which saw Liverpool fans with legitimate tickets kept out of the stadium amid claims their tickets were forged and footage showing fans being manhandled and, in some cases, pepper-sprayed, French authorities went on the offensive by claiming any trouble was instigated by “aggressive” Liverpool fans.

But a report prepared by the French government subsequently completely exonerated fans from either side of any wrongdoing.

Speaking to the Tyrone Herald, Mr Gordon said he was “100 per-cent happy” that Liverpool fans had been absolved of any blame.

He said, “It was always going to come out that they weren’t at fault as soon as the investigation started frankly. I’m not surprised by the findings at all. The French authorities changed their story a few times, firstly claiming that there were 30,000 fake tickets being used, then claiming that Liverpool fans were trying to storm the gates.

“This report proves it was all lies which have been found out.

“Declan and myself never experienced any of the trouble. We were safely inside the stadium by the time reports of the trouble began surfacing on social media, only becoming aware of it when Declan’s wife texted him asking if we were safe.

“It was then we checked Twitter and saw what was going on outside.”

Mr Gordon said the entire event was “over-policed” and claimed that big events in the Stade de France, located in the St Denis area of the city, tended to be a struggle for local police.

The French Senate commissioned a report into the night, hearing testimony from law enforcement, supporters representatives and UEFA.

The report found the authorities culpable due to a combination of an institutional ‘lack of co-ordination’ and policing ‘failures’.

Particular errors cited include the failure of stewards and police to safely manage a pre-filter ticket check and a failure to respond to a train strike, which forced a disproportionate number of fans to arrive at the stadium by one trajectory.