High Court judge rules the legal claims of more than 800 Liverpool fans against European football’s governing body UEFA over the chaos ahead of their Paris 2022 Champions League final clash with Real Madrid can be heard in England
Serious congestion problems outside the Stade de France saw thousands of Liverpool fans penned in against perimeter fences and stuck in a motorway underpass ahead of the game against Real Madrid.
Those same supporters, who had already been targeted by local youths trying to steal tickets, were then tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed by police.
The court in Liverpool heard it relied on a principle that English courts will not inquire into the legality of the acts of a foreign government.
However, in a 38-page judgment on Friday, Mr Justice Turner, said the case could be heard in England, adding: “I have already concluded that, as a matter of English law, it is arguable that the combination of the limits of the scope of the application of the doctrine to the facts of this case as I have found them to be and the further constraints imposed by the operation of the first exception are sufficient in themselves fatally to undermine the defendants’ jurisdiction application.”
In March last year UEFA said it had reached a “full and final settlement” with supporters represented by two other law firms, who had made personal injury claims, before their claims got to court.
The continuing claims concern a group of hundreds of fans, represented by law firm Leigh Day.
In 2023, an independent report found UEFA bore “primary responsibility” for the failures which almost led to European club football’s biggest occasion in Paris in May 2022 becoming a “mass fatality catastrophe”.
“UEFA will now have to answer them in the English courts.
“All football fans should be able to attend matches safely.”
