“It is almost three years since a stark verdict was delivered on the chaotic scenes that preceded the 2022 Champions League final in Paris. ‘It is remarkable that no one lost their lives,’ concluded an independent review of that fraught evening that ended with Real Madrid beating Liverpool. UEFA, as event organisers, was found to bear the greatest responsibilityfor the ‘failures which almost led to disaster’, but within 220 pages of evidence and analysis were pointed criticisms of those that had been tasked with maintaining order around the Stade de France. The panel — commissioned by UEFA three days after the final took place — called it a ‘defective policing model’ that was slow to react and needlessly heavy-handed. Tear gas and pepper spray had been used indiscriminately by officers from the Paris Prefecture de Police. ‘Weaponry which has no place at a festival of football,’ the review said. …”
NY Times/The Athletic