JM2K6 wrote: Tue May 31, 2022 7:06 pm
Only 2800 fake tickets apparently. This is going to be a great century for absolute bullshit being pedalled as the truth and breathlessly regurgitated by people online
At least someone in the French govt has now apologised to Liverpool. Ticket scanning machines weren't working... police attacking blind, disabled, children and pregnant women with tear gas... meanwhile French youths from local estate were attacking fans and stealing what they could... Real Madrid fans also targeted.
https://news.sky.com/story/champions-le ... s-12624991
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... gniter-rhr
I feared another Hillsborough was unfolding before my eyes at Stade de France
It was a miracle nobody died on Saturday, and it really is this simple: the Stade de France in Saint-Denis should never be handed a showpiece sporting event again.
My family's ordeal is just one of thousands of horror stories, but, as we wade through the lies and cover-ups from French ministers, hopefully it helps to describe exactly what I saw.
There's two parts to my story: my front row view of the complete disorganisation and lack of safety provisions that made the build-up as worrying as the beginnings of Hillsborough. And then, afterwards, the horror of being called to find out my wife and son had been ambushed in separate attacks.
Before kick-off and 'shades of Hillsborough'
The evening had started off so well. Like all other games this season, I had been on duty for Liverpool TV. I arrived at Gate Y at 5pm, five hours before kick-off and an hour before we were due to start our broadcast. We were up on a 10ft broadcast platform and were having a bit of banter with everybody while we were waiting to go on air.
All was great, but as we went on air at 6pm, you could feel something was not right. Initially the crowd had been no bigger than a passport queue at an airport, yet when I turned around minutes later there were fans lined against the fence about five or six deep.
Your first reaction is that this is a normal build-up to a big match. But as time went on, it was obvious from our vantage point that it was getting uncomfortable. People started complaining and shouting up to me on the gantry asking me to do something. I'm thinking, 'What do they want me to do?' We eventually went to a broadcast break when fans started telling me that a gate further up had been closed and it had all gone off, with tear gas fired.
My first reaction was there must have been trouble with the fans, maybe a fight with Real Madrid or the locals. But it turns out that police and stewards just couldn't handle the traffic of people coming through. Due to the tear gas, the crowd dispersed and they all came down to where I was at Gate Y.
Now, suddenly, we're up to 20 to 25 people deep, and the closer we got to kick-off, the more dangerous it was. At its worst I counted more than 30 people deep. It was then that there was a squash and crush up the front where they had opened one of 10 potential turnstiles.
It was just sheer incompetence by the stewards. The police were not doing anything. People were shouting, 'We're getting crushed - push back.' They just had nowhere to go. It was shades of Hillsborough.
With no help from authorities, people started taking things into their own hands to get safe. They started climbing the fence, they were shouting help, passing kids back and a woman came on to our platform, shaking, crying and struggling to breathe. There was another fella the same. It was just absolute chaos.
From our view, we couldn't see the outer perimeter but we were being told how badly that was being policed and stewarded too. But we knew people were just walking through, whether they showed tickets or not. As a result, loads of locals were hanging around the gates. Those climbing over, that I saw, definitely looked like locals rather than fans.
There was a genuine risk of life here and we did come off half an hour before we planned because we knew what was going on and we wanted to help people. The shots just weren't right to go out. The footage is there but we couldn't report on it live.
Of course your thoughts start turning to your own family too. About an hour before kick-off, I called my wife Lucy and said: 'Listen, you need to get in the ground - there's a lot of people turning up at the gates now. It's getting uncomfortable. You need to get in now."
She initially said her gate seemed quite clear, but by the time she had met my son Harry, 22, and a couple of club officials, it was chaos for her too. It all felt like the aftermath of a motorway crash. Within seconds the queue was massive. She then rang me, and said: "Listen, I'm getting squashed. It's really uncomfortable."
Thankfully, they squeezed in fine. Others were less fortunate. One of my best mates didn't get in until 10 minutes into the second half. The game, of course, was a non-event, overshadowed by what happened. I've never seen a Liverpool crowd so quiet on a big night.
Attacked by gangs
Amid all the chaos, it was decided our post-match programme would be canned. Instead, the broadcast team was told to stay in position and leave together, and then go back to the coach that had been put on for us by the club.
Lucy, however, had left 10 minutes after full-time with Harry. Unknown to them at the time, the coach they were due to get on had been moved to a different spot because someone had thrown a brick at it.
As a result, Lucy and Harry met one of the club officials and they started walking 200 yards up the road to where it had been parked. It was at some point after this that five young men came out of the crowd, behind Lucy and ripped her blouse open at the buttons so she was left exposed.
Her arms came up, they grabbed them and then twisted her wrists. She was being dragged back and thinking the absolute worst. As she was dragged, she screamed at Harry, who turned around and ran at them and then they just took off.
Bruised arm
I got a phone call from her immediately afterwards and she was crying her eyes out, saying "I've just been mugged - my watch is gone." It was a wedding present and had huge sentimental value. She then said Harry had run after them, and I immediately thought: 'What the f---?'
She went off with a guy from the club to get on the coach while I tried ring Harry. Eventually, 10 minutes later, I got a call from him and he was crying his eyes too as they had kicked the s--- out of him. He had run after them and he got about 150 yards when he felt he lost them through the crowd.
But when he stopped and took his phone out of his pocket to call Lucy, the same five lads set upon him. They tripped him up and he dropped his phone. As he reached out to grab it they gave him a kicking. Harry managed to land a punch but it was actually Real Madrid fans that jumped in and helped him.
He then rings me and obviously I'm now extremely worried. I tell him to ping me his location and try to track down a police officer to stand next to. When I got down onto the street where he was, I couldn't believe my eyes - there was not one policeman, not one police car, no stewards or any Uefa officials.
There was nothing in that street apart from Liverpool, Real Madrid fans and gangs of these horrible rats attacking people. There were sirens in the background but by now we were 350 yards from the ground in the outer perimeter.
When I eventually found Harry, he pointed me in the direction of where he assumed the coach was going to be and we eventually saw a club official who grabbed us and threw us on a coach.
Eventually, we all gave statements to the police and the club brought Harry to his hotel in a car they put on. He had cut his arm and his hand and elbow but he didn't need any medical assistance. He was just a little bit shook up.
Politicians have failed
The fact that this is just one story among thousands is just disgusting. We've made football a family game where women and kids feel safe. It's still got that tribalism but the game has been made like this by Uefa, by Fifa, by all the governing bodies.
Emmanuel Macron wanted this game on because he wanted to show the world what France can do. Well the first priority should be to just look after the fans, make sure that they get on buses safe and can actually get into the ground. It's not just about making people pay Uefa £500, £900 or £1,500 for a ticket.
I'm absolutely disgusted by the subsequent words from politicians. I have spoken at length with Billy Hogan, the club's chief executive, and he agrees. How can these politicians quote these statistics when we haven't even had an independent inquiry?
Talk of tens and tens of thousands of fake tickets is utter lies and cover-up. They're saying this because they put lives at risk, and I saw it first hand. That's why the Stade de France should never have a match on this scale again.
