Liverpool fans’ lawyers say Uefa’s Champions League refund not enough
Law firms representing almost 3,000 Liverpool supporters caught up in the chaos at the Champions League final last May have said Uefa’s offer of a ticket refund does not go far enough and that they will press ahead with legal claims.
Uefa confirmed on Tuesday that the 19,618 Liverpool fans who bought the club’s allocation for the game in Paris could get their ticket money back. It promised last month to open a “special refund scheme” in response to the damning findings of the report it commissioned into the events around the Stade de France.
The report found that Uefa bears “primary responsibility” for the catastrophic organisational and safety failures that turned the final into a horrific, traumatic experience for thousands of Liverpool and Real Madrid supporters. Fans experienced access delays, congestion, crushing, turnstile closures, brutal policing and criminal attacks by local groups.
General admission tickets ranged from €70 to €690 and refunding Liverpool’s ticket allocation will cost Uefa about £3m. Its general secretary, Theodore Theodoridis, said the scheme was “comprehensive and fair” and recognised fans’ “negative experiences”. He has previously apologised for what happened.
“The special refund scheme covers all of the Liverpool FC ticket allocation for the final, ie 19,618 tickets,” Uefa said. It said it would “reimburse Liverpool FC the total value of these tickets and the club will then process the refunds to its supporters”. Liverpool sources said the club had been influential throughout in Uefa working towards this policy to refund fans.
Three law firms representing Liverpool supporters said the offer did not go far enough. They have previously told Uefa that legal action would be taken unless more substantial compensation than a ticket refund is paid. They have argued the fans are entitled to compensation for their physical and psychological injuries under French law.
In response to Uefa’s announcement Tony Winterburn, partner at Pogust Goodhead, which is running the legal case against Uefa, alongside the Liverpool-based law firm Binghams, said: “Digesting the fine details of this scheme will allow us to determine if it is, in fact, ‘comprehensive and fair’. Although this does present as a step towards Uefa accepting responsibility for the events, our legal case is still progressing.
“It is pertinent the extent of the physical and psychological injuries of our clients remains at the forefront of this process. We believe the term ‘refund’, in its broadest sense, does not go far enough in providing redress or acknowledging the true harm suffered by those at an event that should have been safe for all to attend.”
Clare Campbell and Jill Paterson, partners at the law firm Leigh Day, which represents more than 900 Liverpool fans, said: “What is required here is more than a ticket refund. Uefa did not just ruin the biggest event in the football season, people were injured and traumatised and any compensation needs to reflect that.
“We will be pushing ahead with our legal claim to seek appropriate compensation for our clients, and await an urgent reply to a letter of claim that we have sent to Uefa setting out the legal basis for the action.”
Some Madrid fans who bought tickets via their club and some spectators who purchased tickets from the 12,000 available outside the club allocations will also be eligible for a refund. Uefa said those supporters would need to meet its refund criteria and that the scheme covered those “most affected when accessing the Stade de France”.
“Refunds will be available to all fans with tickets for gates A, B, C, X, Y and Z where the most difficult circumstances were reported,” it said. “In addition, all fans who according to the access control data did not enter the stadium before 21:00 CEST (the originally scheduled kick-off time), or who were not able to enter the stadium at all, will be eligible for a refund. Finally, Uefa will offer refunds to all fans who purchased accessibility tickets along with those of their accompanying persons.”
Uefa said anyone who had been the victim of crimes committed in Paris could report their case to the relevant French authorities.
Kevin Miles, chief executive of the Football Supporters’ Association, said Uefa’s move was “unprecedented and hugely welcome”. He praised the work done by Spirit of Shankly and the Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association, who said in a joint statement: “With a promise to reimburse supporters, Uefa have gone some way to acknowledging their part in the fiasco. But it does not excuse Uefa, exempt them from criticism or lessen the need for them to implement all of the recommendations made by the independent inquiry.”