Judge rules Liverpool fans’ Uefa claims hearing will go ahead this month

A judge has dismissed an application by European football’s governing body to adjourn a court hearing involving claims by 887 Liverpool fans involved in the chaos of the Paris 2022 Champions League final.

Mr Justice Pepperall sitting at the High Court in Liverpool, said a hearing, scheduled for the end of the month, would go ahead, when lawyers for both the fans and football authorities would argue over whether the matter should be dealt with in UK or French courts.

Uefa said earlier this year that it had reached a “full and final settlement” with supporters represented by two other law firms, who had made personal injury claims, before their claims got to court.

The hearing on Thursday, 6 June, concerned another group of hundreds of fans, represented by law firm Leigh Day, who first begin their joint action in April 2023.

An independent report published last year found Uefa bore “primary responsibility” for the failures which almost led to European club football’s biggest occasion in Paris in May 2022 becoming a “mass fatality catastrophe”.

Serious congestion problems outside the Stade de France in Paris saw thousands of Liverpool fans penned in against perimeter fences and stuck in a motorway underpass ahead of the game against Real Madrid, with kick-off on the night delayed by more than 30 minutes.

Those same supporters, who had already been targeted by local youths trying to steal tickets, were then tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed by police.

Uefa argue that UK courts do not have jurisdiction to deal with the claims and want more time for experts in French law, appointed by each side, to report back.

But Mr Justice Pepperall ruled the issue would be dealt with at the jurisdictional hearing on 27 and 28 June.

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