Why did Liverpool fans boo the UEFA Champions League anthem?

Ahead of Tuesday’s last-16 first leg against Real Madrid, Liverpool fans drowned out the Champions League anthem with boos.

It was Anfield’s protest against UEFA’s role in the shambolic scenes at the Reds’ Champions League final defeat to Madrid in May last year.

UEFA “bore primary responsibility” for UCL final chaos

Published last week, an independent review of the events in Paris has delivered a damning verdict on the part played by European football’s governing body in the organisational chaos outside the Stade de France.

The report, commissioned by UEFA, said the body bore “primary responsibility” for what happened, adding that the authority’s blunders very nearly led to tragedy.

Kick-off of the 2022 Champions League final was delayed by 36 minutes as severe congestion outside the Liverpool end left thousands of English supporters unable to enter the stadium in time for the final’s scheduled start.

UEFA tries to pin blame on Liverpool fans

When the kick-off delay was announced, UEFA released a statement blaming the “late arrival of [Liverpool] fans”. After the game, which Madrid won 1-0, the body then issued a second statement pointing the finger at Liverpool’s supporters, alleging that thousands of Reds fans had shown up to the venue without valid tickets. This claim was echoed by French authorities.

UEFA failures “almost led to disaster”

“The Panel has concluded that UEFA, as event owner, bears primary responsibility for failures which almost led to disaster,” the Champions League final report, published last week, said.

“Whereas it was reasonable to delegate various security and safety matters to others - primarily FFF [the French Football Federation] - and to defer to the constitutional position of the Préfecture de Police regarding policing duties, it did not follow that this absolved UEFA of responsibility.

“UEFA was central to the organisation of the event, and it should have monitored, supervised and assisted with security and safety measures, to ensure they were fit for purpose, and to identify and remedy problems before they arose in real time.”

Fans tear-gassed by French police

Poorly organised walkways approaching the Stade de France allowed huge bottlenecks to build up as Liverpool fans queued to enter the arena.

Footage of the scenes outside the Stade de France also showed French police tear-gassing waiting Liverpool fans, including children. What’s more, there were widespread accounts - including videos shared on social media - of Madrid and Liverpool fans being mugged, pickpocketed and assaulted by locals in Saint-Denis, the Paris suburb in which the stadium is located.

UEFA claims “manifestly inaccurate”, “reprehensible”

UEFA’s independent report described the governing body’s first statement as a “crass error of judgment”, declaring: “It was manifestly inaccurate that ‘lateness’ had anything to do with the problems.”

On UEFA’s second statement, the panel added: “Assertions regarding huge numbers of ticketless supporters, and those with fake tickets, have been wrongly inflated and have been stated as fact, to deflect responsibility for the planning and operational failures of stakeholders.

“This is reprehensible and has involved Uefa, Uefa Events SA [Uefa’s events organising arm], FFF, the Préfecture de Police, government officials and French ministers.”

UEFA says sorry for chaos

Following the release of the panel’s findings last week, UEFA’s general secretary Theodore Theodoridis, said the organisation “would like to apologise most sincerely once again to all those who were affected by the events that unfolded on what should have been a celebration at the pinnacle of the club season.”