Liverpool chief executive Hogan calls for French government apology

Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan wants to see the French government apologise for the chaos prior to the Champions League final.

An enquiry carried out by the French senate found that the issues at the Stade de France on May 28 – which resulted in kick-off being delayed – were caused by “a string of dysfunctions”.

The French government initially accused Liverpool fans, who were sprayed with tear gas and complained of being subjected to heavy-handed policing, of being at fault for having fake tickets and arriving at the ground late.

Two senate committees launched an investigation to discover what happened prior to Real Madrid’s 1-0 win and concluded that Liverpool fans were not to blame.

Following the publication of that report, Liverpool chief Hogan has asked for an apology from the French government as a whole.

He told Liverpool’s official website: “I would say I was incredibly encouraged to see one of the senators specifically apologise to the Liverpool fans and to the Real Madrid fans for what happened on the night.

“I would ask that the French government do the same. Not just to the fans of Liverpool and Real Madrid but to both clubs, who have had reputational issues coming out of the final and we would hope they would extend an apology where one is deserved.”

Our CEO Billy Hogan has tonight provided the club’s reaction to the French Senate’s report on the causes of the distressing events at the Champions League final in Paris in May.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 13, 2022

UEFA previously launched an independent investigation, and Hogan hopes the findings of the senate’s report will play a part in their findings.

“I would hope and certainly we would expect that this review would play a part in the UEFA independent investigation as well,” he said.

“That panel obviously is just getting going in that process and we would certainly hope that Dr Tiago Rodrigues and the panel would use the senate’s findings as a critical part of their research and investigation into the events around the final at the Stade de France.”

Of the report as a whole, Hogan said: “From our perspective, we just think that goes back to what we talked about immediately after the event and the fact there were a number of accusations, frankly, put out there immediately after the event and in fact blaming fans for what happened on that night.

“I think what we’re seeing from the senate clearly shows that is not the case. And finally, they have clearly gone through a process here over the course of the last several weeks, spoken with a number of individuals, a number of different stakeholders, so we would welcome and support the 15 recommendations that came out of the report.”