Billy, thank you for joining us again tonight to keep our fans informed of what happened after Saturday’s game. First, UEFA announced last night that it has commissioned an independent report on the events surrounding the Champions League final. Can you give us a little more information about that?
As we mentioned yesterday, we wrote to UEFA yesterday to ask them to instruct an appropriate person or persons to conduct a thorough, independent and transparent investigation into the events before and after the match in Paris. We knew that they had ordered a report according to media statements, and today we received a letter from UEFA confirming this, and I actually had a conversation with UEFA tonight on this issue. There are not many details at this stage, obviously this is an evolving process, but we want to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to obtain the facts about what happened on Saturday in Paris. Just as an example, this may be just a difference in language, but we think we wanted an independent investigation, not an independent report. So, again, the details are really important here and we will follow up with UEFA in the coming days.
Yesterday, the club released an online form for supporters who went to Paris to complete and register their experience in writing and with photos and video evidence. What is the answer so far?
It was amazing. So far, Tuesday late afternoon, a little over 24 hours the form is ready and we have over 5,000 completed and submitted forms, which is really amazing. First, thank you to everyone who took the time to share their experiences. Obviously, this is a huge amount of information, so we would ask you to be patient with us while we work on this detail. But I spent time today reviewing some of the information, and to be honest, I’m horrified by the way some men, women, children – working, less able – were treated indiscriminately on Saturday.
I think the volume of forms filled out over the last 24 hours really shows how fans want to support the investigation process and, importantly, gather real evidence of what happened before and after the start. I think it is important to acknowledge that we have all been properly focused on the problems of access to the Stade de France; I think it is also important not to lose sight of what happened after the match. I think we’ve all seen videos, photos, I’ve read a number of stories about absolutely horrifying experiences leaving the stadium – crimes, robberies. No one should experience what our fans experienced before or after the match. In our minds, this is obviously completely unacceptable, which is why it is important to create this set of experiences that obviously need to be included in the independent investigation.
Finally, on this issue, I would just like to repeat the thesis I said yesterday, which is from everyone in this football club to every supporter who has been affected by the events around Saturday: thank you. Thank you for sharing your experience using the online form. In some cases, it was incredibly difficult to read some of the experiences. Thank you for supporting each other through what was a terrible and traumatic event.
In the last few days, there were many people – experts, professionals, journalists, who spoke in the media and expressed their views on what happened on Saturday and in particular on the operational management of the final. What is your opinion on these comments?
I have heard many of them and I would like to say thank you to those who speak and share their experience and expertise, especially in the media. All this is part of ensuring that the facts of what happened in Paris are heard by experts. I think this is critical. This is critical as part of this process. Those who host global sporting events, those who have experience in professional crowd management, find it incredibly helpful to understand how other events are run and just hear best practices about what is happening in the industry. sports and entertainment. So I think it’s very important for everyone to keep talking and sharing their experiences. Once we understand that the independent investigation is ongoing and in the right way, that everyone gives as much evidence as possible. Again, our aim in calling for this independent investigation was, and still is, to ensure that all relevant facts are heard, all parties concerned are heard, the truth is established and lessons are learned so that this never happens again.
Given these experiences you talked about, is there anywhere where fans who were affected by what happened on Saturday can go get help and support?
Yes. This is something we have been talking about for the last few days. First, my sincere thoughts are with everyone who has experienced these unacceptable events on Saturday night. We are currently working with our foundation’s team, which runs promotion and crisis support programs, to see how to direct people to the right support for affected fans. People may be aware of the work that the Foundation has done with Spirit of Shankly, for example, on mental health. The team of our foundation, working with specialized organizations, has experience in this field and we will publish these details in our channels as soon as possible.
Another really important point I want to raise is that we are also aware that there were many fans who were injured on Saturday night and we asked UEFA for their match diary, which includes all the medical incidents at night, so we we can turn to these supporters and their families to help if we can.
Billy, thank you again for joining us tonight and for providing us with the latest updates on this.
Obviously, I am very happy to provide relevant updates to our fans and I would encourage everyone to follow our club and social channels and, of course, we can talk again here when appropriate.
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