UEFA commissions report into chaotic scenes at Liverpool-Real Madrid Champions League final in Paris

UEFA has commissioned an independent report into the troubled events surrounding the Champions League final in Paris.

The kick-off between Liverpool and Real Madrid was delayed by half an hour with fans left struggling to get inside after queuing for hours.

The situation deteriorated further as French police began pepper spraying those trying to see the Saturday 28 May match.

UEFA initially blamed the "late arrival" of fans for the problems, delaying kick-off by 36 minutes, with Liverpool going on to lose 1-0 to Real Madrid.

However on Monday night (30 May), the organisation announced a 'comprehensive' review will examine factors including decision making, responsibility and behaviours of all involved in the final.

It comes as Liverpool fans strongly denied French authorities claiming masses of Reds supporters were trying to get into the final with fake tickets.

During a press conference on Monday, French politicians claimed 70% of tickets for the final "were fake," resulting in delays.

In a statement, UEFA said: "The report will be independently compiled and Dr. Tiago Brandão Rodrigues from Portugal will lead the review.

“The comprehensive review will examine decision-making, responsibility and behaviours of all entities involved in the final.”

It added: “Evidence will be gathered from all relevant parties and the findings of the independent report will be made public once completed and, upon receipt of the findings, UEFA will evaluate the next steps.”

The review comes after French interior minister Gerald Darmanin reiterated claims about fake tickets, saying fraud had taken place on an “industrial level”.

French authorities are under increasing pressure over their handling of fans and security in general, but Darmanin said an influx of supporters with unauthorised tickets, or without tickets at all, was the biggest issue.

“There was massive fraud at an industrial level and organisation of fake tickets, 70 per cent of tickets were fake tickets coming into the Stade de France,” Darmanin told a press conference.

“More than 2,600 were confirmed by UEFA as non-validated tickets even though they had gone through the first filtering.“

He claimed the presence of the "fake tickets" caused the match to be delayed three times.

• ITV News Granada's Chris Hall reports on the finals chaos

He added: “I would like to express our regret with regard to the organisation of the final because some people were not able to see the whole of the match. I deplore the errors which took place before.”

Representatives from local authorities, police and final organisers met to review events on Monday.

Amelie Oudea-Castera, France’s sports minister, also continued to claim fraud and said there were thousands of fake tickets.

However, this version of events has been contested by Liverpool supporters and independent media present at the final.

Ian Byrne, the Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, attended the match as a fan and said he had never witnessed such scenes since the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

He has written to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss with a list of seven demands, including a formal probe and apologies, aimed at UEFA and the French authorities.

In his letter, he said: “The French authorities and UEFA are quite simply covering their own backs with this narrative.

“As a Liverpool fan, I was in Paris for the match and I can honestly say that the situation outside the ground was one of the most horrendous experiences of my life – and as a Hillsborough survivor, I do not make this comment lightly.”

Merseyside Police observers also described the behaviour of the vast majority of supporters as “exemplary”, although their counterparts from the Paris prefecture said some had “employed strong force” in a bid to get into the stadium.

Liverpool have appealed to supporters who attended the game to report their experiences via a feedback form on their website.

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