I was one of those unlucky Liverpool fans, caught up in the middle of the chaos battling to enter the stadium’s gate Y at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday. As I left the match, I saw a Liverpool fan who had already been pepper-sprayed and chased by a French police officer despite his colleagues urging him not to. The fan was then hit from behind on the back of his head with a wooden baton.
Panic, horror, and chaos. These are just some of the words that have been used to describe the events that occurred during what became a memorable night for all the wrong reasons in the French capital. Security and safety issues continue to trouble football and the world’s other biggest sporting events and repeatedly become the key talking point once the final whistle blows.
I went to watch Liverpool take on Real Madrid with my sister, brother and a family friend. Like all Liverpool fans, we had been looking forward to the culmination of an exciting season. But the excitement soon turned to fear when we realized that we were getting caught up in something that was beyond our control. We were getting crushed outside gate Y, jostling with security to prevent them from closing the gate on us. Similar scenes were also reported outside gates X and B.
I had flashbacks to Hillsborough, the stadium disaster on April 15, 1989, which resulted in the tragic deaths of 97 Liverpool fans. I remember watching dazed fans, numb from shock, on the television. In Paris, I thought history was about to repeat itself. We all felt a sense of dread. It was a brief, intense moment that we couldn’t breathe and that we might not make it. Somehow, a much anticipated, post-COVID joyous family event had suddenly switched to what felt like a family fight for survival.
But this is not just a French problem. There is no doubt that the UK is fighting its own security battles, as the upsurge in pitch invasions in recent weeks shows. There was also a major security breach at Wembley Stadium for the Euro 2020 (held in 2021) final, where ticketless fans managed to break through the security barriers and turnstiles and gain access to the stadium.
Months later, in January 2022, a crush at the Olembe Stadium in Cameroon during the Africa Cup of Nations tragically resulted in eight deaths. All of this adds to the mounting evidence that the problem of security and safety in football is getting worse.
Communication is key
Research into football policing suggests that the absence of communication and dialogue between police and crowds are two factors that can contribute to the escalation of disorder. As Jan’s research underlines, there must be mutual respect and understanding between fans and those responsible for security.
One of the reasons for this is that the policing of football matches is highly complex – both on the ground on match days but also in its pre-planning lead-up to the fixtures. The policing of fans is also not limited to the stadium rings. Large numbers of ticketless fans travel to sporting events and choose to attend fan zones or other public viewing events. To account for this, Jan’s recently published book shows how major sporting event security relies much upon the transfer of so-called “best practices” that migrate from event to event. These processes are aided by a European-wide security network consisting of diverse stakeholders, such as law enforcement, governing bodies, national associations, and organized fan networks.
Before the final in May, Merseyside Police would have provided the French authorities with a “closed briefing” of what and whom to expect, along with other risk assessments. They would have also sent a team of “spotters” to work with Spanish and French police. According to a former crowd safety and security adviser at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium, this briefing ought to have included an appraisal of the usual problems such as fans without tickets, drunken supporters, and fake tickets. A joint session between the two French police forces, the Gendarmerie, and the Compagnies republicanizes de securite (CRS), with the British police and UEFA would have also gone through a complete run-through of the event.
Information for traveling fans
Open-source intelligence work would have shown UEFA and relevant authorities the numbers of fans to be expected as all flights and trains from the UK to Paris were fully booked weeks in advance of the final. So, the authorities had plenty of time to put in place a communication strategy for arriving fans. This should have included both instructions on how to enter and exit the stadium safely and advice that fans should be careful of their safety within the local area in the immediate vicinity of the stadium when they were leaving the game. Instead, indications of what awaited – and perhaps what to expect – emerged in the fixture’s build-up when it was reported that fans wearing club colors in the area around the Champs Elysees could risk a fine from the French police. So, no warnings, no information – just punitive action.