Irish Sunday Mirror

UEFA want action over Kop ‘greet’

- BY SIMON MULLOCK

UEFA are set to order Liverpool to take action on fans lining the streets around Anfield to “greet” team buses before European games.

Euro chiefs have assured Manchester City they will investigat­e why supporters were allowed to wreck the club’s state-ofthe-art vehicle with a hail of missiles before Wednesday night’s Champions League clash.

UEFA have previously insisted that the conduct of fans outside stadia is the responsibi­lity of the police.

But the failure of Merseyside Police to protect Pep Guardiola and his players from a bombardmen­t of bricks, bottles and fireworks has forced a rethink.

Two of the four charges UEFA have laid against Liverpool relate to the bus incident. And UEFA have already made it clear in talks with both clubs that allowing a situation where thousands of supporters are free to congregate outside the stadium to watch the teams arrive has proved to be a recipe for disaster.

Liverpool were twice fined by UEFA in 2016 for minor crowd disturbanc­es.

But attacking opposition players is likely to draw a tougher punishment, and when the case is dealt with on May 31, Liverpool could face the prospect of having to play a future European game behind closed doors.

City do not blame Liverpool FC for the attacks, but feel Merseyside Police failed to take the threat of violence seriously, despite the club voicing concerns for the safety of their players in the weeks leading up to the tie.

A high-level City source said: “We made it clear that we felt allowing fans to congregate along the route the team bus was taking into the stadium could potentiall­y bring trouble.”

Merseyside Police failed to respond to a request for a comment.

 ??  ?? SMASHED UP: City’s team bus on Wednesday
SMASHED UP: City’s team bus on Wednesday

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