Uefa Liverpool final: Fans faced smear campaign, mayor says

Liverpool fans described heavy-handed policing, chaos and overcrowding

Liverpool fans faced a smear campaign with "sinister echoes of Hillsborough" following the trouble-marred Uefa Champions League final, the city's mayor has said.

The French government had initially blamed supporters and fake ticketing for the disorder that led to fans being tear-gassed and robbed in Paris.

But an inquiry later found a litany of administrative errors caused the chaos.

Joanne Anderson said "we now know the truth" about what unfolded.

"Liverpool fans subjected to a co-ordinated smear campaign with sinister echoes of Hillsborough," the Liverpool mayor tweeted.

"This negative stereotyping of Liverpool has to end."

• Liverpool fans blamed unfairly for Uefa final chaos

• Harrowing accounts of post-match violence spark debate

• How the Champions League final trouble unfolded

In the report, entitled Champions League Final: An Unavoidable Fiasco, two Senate committees investigated what went wrong on the night of the 28 May clash between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

It found the authorities had unfairly blamed Liverpool fans.

Billy Hogan, Liverpool FC chief executive officer, said it had been "an incredibly challenging time over the course of the last six weeks".

But he added that he was "incredibly proud of our fanbase [and] the way that everybody has come together".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said regional mayor Steve Rotheram, who was at the game and targeted by thieves, claimed there had been a "concerted attempt to smear fans" that could have caused "greater reputational damage if the lies went unchallenged".

Ian Byrne, MP for Liverpool West Derby, said the problems had been caused by a series of mistakes "at every level" by the French authorities, who unfairly blamed fans and fake tickets.

Liverpool Wavertree MP Paula Barker has since called for a French parliamentary inquiry into what happened.

She said: "The French senate confirms what the fans already knew - the fans were not responsible for the dangerous chaos at the Champions League final in Paris."

Liverpool fans were initially blamed for the authorities' failures to handle large crowds arriving at the stadium

Dan Carden, MP for Liverpool Walton, said Liverpool supporters had been vindicated by the findings.

"As we all knew, fans were unfairly blamed to deflect attention from a catalogue of administrative errors and failings," he said.

Alison McGovern, MP for Wirral South and Reds fan, described Liverpool fans as heroes.

"So many people acted to take care of each other in a very stressful situation," she added.

"Now we need a full apology from the French authorities, and a proper inquiry."

'Issue of lies'

In a statement, the Spirit of Shankly supporters' group said fans had been vindicated but there remained "the issue of lies being persistently repeated", and also called for an inquiry.

Liverpool FC Disabled Supporters Association said that instead of enjoying a festival of football, fans had experienced a "carnival of horrors".

"It was only because of the exemplary behaviour of Liverpool fans, who were subjected to extreme provocation by the police, that there were no deaths at the stadium," a spokesman added.

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