The Champions League final hosted in Paris was, without a question, a failure of epic proportions that delivered unpleasant experiences for many a fan attending – Jurgen Klopp’s family included.
The former Mainz head coach revealed that his loved ones had told a white lie prior to the clash between Liverpool and Real Madrid in order to spare the coach the horrifying details of fan treatment.
“I met only a few who were lucky; all the rest I met – my family included – had massive struggles outside,” the German told the club’s official website.
“I think it is meanwhile clear it was massively mis-organised. Whoever was responsible was not prepared for that.
“My family sent me messages before the game, ‘We are in the stadium, good luck’ and all these kinds of things – but they were not. These kind of necessary lies you receive then after the game.”
A number of supporters shared the stories of their time in the French capital, the poor organisational efforts of UEFA, and the aggressive policing taking place, all of which can be seen here.
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One can only imagine the horror Klopp later experienced after learning of how poorly both sets of fans attending were treated, not to mention that of his family, before, during and after what was supposed to be a special occasion.
We’d like to hope that the truth-telling that occurred will inspire far better management of such events in future, with proper consequences, in particular, for the French police and officials who were responsible.
To put it simply (and to state the obvious): this can never be allowed to happen again.
The removal of the Paris chief of police isn’t a bad start but government officials of the likes of Gerald Darmanin have much still to answer for.
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