Liverpool fans to sue UEFA

[Guest Snorky]

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Michel Platini, the president of Uefa, is facing legal action for compensation from an enraged Liverpool supporter denied entry to last week's Champions League final in Athens, despite having a ticket. The action is seen on Merseyside as a test case which, if successful, could lead to a flood of further litigation against Uefa.

 

With two friends, Paul Gregory, an architect, spent ?3,490 (£2,370) on flights, accommodation and tickets. "I would like this to be reimbursed by Uefa,'' wrote Gregory in a letter sent to Platini. "It's the least you can do for putting our lives at risk. If this is not forthcoming we intend to take action against Uefa through the British judicial system, and through the European Courts if necessary. It was only through good luck that Uefa avoided deaths.

 

"As a former shareholder in Liverpool FC I am the recipient of three ?140 tickets for the Champions League final. All are still unused as we were refused entry into the stadium. I was herded, tear-gassed, kicked and baton-charged by riot police outside the stadium for the hour leading up to kick-off and way beyond.

 

"As the organising body, Uefa has a duty of care towards its legitimate ticket-holders in just the same way as any corporate body has towards its customers. This duty of care extends to having systems in place to deny entry to the stadium to non-ticket holders. Demonstrably these systems were not in place.

 

"While unsavoury elements of the Liverpool fans must take responsibility for their actions, so must Uefa take responsibility for its shortcomings. Uefa appears to have planned for a genteel corporate networking event. It took its eye off the ball and forgot about a football match between two of Europe's largest and most passionately supported football clubs, despite warnings weeks ahead forged tickets were likely to be in circulation.

 

"Not only did thousands gain entry to the stadium with amateurish, photo-copied forgeries (some not even bothering to print the reverse side of the ticket!) but, incredibly, some fans simply walked into the stadium with no ticket at all - forged or legitimate! Others waved a stadium map and gained entry. One fan gained entry to the press box with a photo-copied press pass.''

 

Gregory has also written to Brian Barwick, the Football Association chief executive, and Rick Parry, Foster Gillett, Tom Hicks jnr and Rafa Benitez at Anfield, outlining in detail problems encountered before kick-off at 9.45pm local time.

 

"I can't even be accused of naivety as this was my sixth European Cup final and I arrived at the stadium an hour and a half before kick-off. Plenty of time to negotiate 'security', I thought.

 

"8.15pm: Arrived at stadium complex entrance arch. Everyone relaxed. Fans funnelled by railings into several entry points. It became apparent fairly quickly very few people were being let through. It also became apparent this was a holding operation.

 

"8.45: Crushing begins as fans see little progress. Panic beginning. Children lifted up and crying. Pushing from behind. Police respond by pushing back and forming an impenetrable barrier.

 

"9.00: I finally make it to the front. Extruded like toothpaste out of a tube into police line; 100m further on, a line of police buses with a bus-sized gap and riot police blocking it. Fans backing up here. It becomes apparent this is a similar holding operation. It looks like one or two are allowed through at a time to give the appearance of a checkpoint. Totally inadequate again. We hold up our tickets, to no avail.

 

"9.30: No one is getting through now. Police drive a bus in to close gap off completely. Crowd of 2,000-5,000 backing up. Panic, crushing. My feet aren't touching the ground. Kids crying. Pressure increases to dangerous levels. This prompts police to let crowd know over hand-held Tannoy that 'the stadium is full! You can't get in'. No one can believe it. The charade is over. The crowd realise they haven't been policed; they've been conned, corralled, herded and contained for the last hour. A surge from the back and now it's confrontational. The police get more vocal and counter-surge with shields, batons, helmets, visors and boots, pushing us back a few metres.

 

"The police fire a huge cloud of tear gas and panic ensues. Police batter their way forward. Crowd retreats, choking and eyes streaming.

 

"9.45: We assume the match will not kick off. Surprised to find it has.

 

"10.00: Some fans regroup and storm staircases to our right. Running skirmishes. Beaten back by police. Tear gas again, kickings. Some fans try to crawl under parked buses. This goes on until about 10.30. We make our way back.''

 

Gregory has asked Platini to answer three specific questions:

 

"1) At what time was the stadium declared closed? And by whom? 2) What security arrangements did you have in place, particularly in regard to forged tickets that Uefa had been warned about weeks in advance? 3) Why are corporate 'partners' allowed to sell tickets at hugely inflated rates to fans?'

 

Finally, if you want a solution to this perennial problem the answer (apart from security that actually works) is easy: license clubs to show the match live on screens at their home stadium when the live venue is sold out.''

[Herbie von Smalls]

said this before, but i reckon gaillard's laying the onus squarely at the foot of the LFC fans was the precursor to a whitewashed 'inquiry' to try and absolve uefa of any responsibility/blame for the events.

 

i'm not sure the legal process will be entirely sympathetic to uefa, so they might settle out of court.

 

good idea to licence tv coverage to the clubs involved in the final. not sure that would prevent many of our fans trying to get their hands on neutral tickets for the actual event, mind.

[R A Softlad]

Fair play. Considered it myself, after all why pay 140 euros when you can get in free?

[Guest Greasy Belcher]

"As a former shareholder in Liverpool FC I am the recipient of three ?140 tickets for the Champions League final."

 

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Thats great! - F*** going to every game to quality for a ticket, just buy some shares in the club, get your name on the list. Then sell them for a profit and collect three tickets when you pass go.

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

rights or wrongs of being a 'former' shareholder & getting tickets etc, this is a good move. I actually thought of suggesting it last week, but couldn't think of anhy legal grounds upon which you'd have support - not being a lawyer & all.

 

I hope them & a boat-load of other Liverpool fans kick the proverbial s**** out of UEFA & sort this annual slap-shod of a mess out for once & all

[Will]

"As a former shareholder in Liverpool FC I am the recipient of three €140 tickets for the Champions League final."

 

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Thats great! - F*** going to every game to quality for a ticket, just buy some shares in the club, get your name on the list. Then sell them for a profit and collect three tickets when you pass go.

I believe that means he had at least 30 shares in the club - which is highly unusual, and means he invested up to £150,000 in the club

[Cunny]

good luck to him

the fact he is a shareholder is not an issue

lets hope he wins and opens the floodgates

 

I'd like to sue the t***s who got in with forgeries or bunked in

[Guest Chewbacca]

I met William Gaillard last night and managed to get a picture with him.

 

 

I then battered him to death with the lead piping in the billiard room. And as a bonus I put 10 billiards up his a*** too. Not sure that was in my version of Cluedo as a kid but I did it anyway.

 

God I hate this guy.

[Tosh]

good luck to him

the fact he is a shareholder is not an issue

lets hope he wins and opens the floodgates

 

I'd like to sue the t***s who got in with forgeries or bunked in

 

 

You're better off beating them...

 

Interesting test case this, as that's what it'll be. The sums involved are minimal but if they end up having to reimburse fans who have legit tickets that are "complete and unchecked" (whether the person got entry to the ground or not), I suppose it'lla dd up

 

Good tack though. He's (or his lawyer, judging by the wording) basically saying that UEFA have a duty of care to their customers and that they failed in that duty a) by heavy handed policing and, more importantly, letting idiots in without checking their tickets

 

 

Unfortunately, they'll probably turn arund and say..."oh poor us, we had to let them in or there would have been all manner of trouble/crushes etc outside the ground and we'd have had another Hillsborough. What we did was avoid that".

 

However, if Parry is right in suggesting that the club predicted this outcome, that argument is weakened.

 

This could be FUN!

[Cobs]

 

good on him

 

 

class action v UEFA is what's needed, let's hope he's got sufficient cash that he doesn't need to settle out of court and this goes all the way.

 

These feckers need to be exposed for the way they treat real fans as a nuisance to their big day.

[Montse]

Good luck to him, UEFA failed in their duty of care by not choosing a stadium that was suitable for the purpose ie no turnstiles which would have ensured only legit ticket holders would have been allowed in. Because of this they had no idea of the number of people in the stands which in the UK would contravene all sorts of fire and H&S laws but have no idea about Greek legislation tho

[kop205]

I believe that means he had at least 30 shares in the club - which is highly unusual, and means he invested up to £150,000 in the club

 

And had probably been to most/all of the earlier rounds too.

 

But then the poster you responded to does have a habit of talking s****.

[JohnnyH]

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"While unsavoury elements of the Liverpool fans must take responsibility for their actions, so must Uefa take responsibility for its shortcomings.

 

I am happy to see this each time someone makes an official compalint. It is important every time we refer to the s**** that UEFA caused that we also don't shield our eyes from our own shortcomings on this one. It doesn't give the usual suspects the ammo of "It's always everyoine else fault with Liverpool" etc

 

Very good compalint by this lad and I hope he succeeds. We must not let this issue just fall by the wayside so it can happen again and again until there are deaths again. UEFA must stand up and accept their actions and use proper football stadia.

[Leo No.8]

Good luck to them, I think they may well have a case. They should also sue UEFA for employing William Gaillard as their 'spokesman', that must be worth trying.

 

Only UEFA would employ a man who has absolutely no idea how to speak to people in a moderate way, and actually makes you become enraged every time he opens his mouth as their spokesman.

 

It's like he's actually trying to upset people with his comments like 'Liverpool were lucky to get 17,000 tickets'; the man is either a pompous c*nt, a complete imbecile or most likely a bit of both.

 

It's absolutely astonishing how incompetant they are in every way; except of course for ensuring the black market for European Final tickets continues to enjoy it's golden era. Touts will tell their grandchildren about these times with wistful smiles on their faces...

Edited May 30, 2007 by Leo No.8

[sutty]

I believe that means he had at least 30 shares in the club - which is highly unusual, and means he invested up to £150,000 in the club

 

 

You call that commitment!?!?

 

Good luck to them, I think they may well have a case. They should also sue UEFA for employing William Gaillard as their 'spokesman', that must be worth trying.

 

Only UEFA would employ a man who has absolutely no idea how to speak to people in a moderate way, and actually makes you become enraged every time he opens his mouth as their spokesman.

 

It's like he's actually trying to upset people with his comments like 'Liverpool were lucky to get 17,000 tickets'; the man is either a pompous c*nt, a complete imbecile or most likely a bit of both.

 

It's absolutely astonishing how incompetant they are in every way; except of course for ensuring the black market for European Final tickets continues to enjoy it's golden era. Touts will tell their grandchildren about these times with wistful smiles on their faces...

 

To be fair to Gaillard I saw the full interview and he was pretty clumsy and his wording wasn't great (but english isn't his 1st language so understandable) and some of the things he said were a bit daft, but a number of the quotes such as the "liverpool were lucky to get 17k" were taken out of context.

 

He actually said something like "60 odd% of the tickets are distributed to the fans of both clubs. There is no major cup competition in the world that compares to the CL in that sense and so Liverpool should consider themselves lucky..."

 

He did say some daft stuff mind.

[matty]

Is there anywhere on the ticket that said 'This ticket does not guarantee entry'?

 

I've seen that before, and may be a get-out clause for Uefa. And I doubt they'll recompense his flight and hotel in any case.

[Tosh]

Only UEFA would employ a man who has absolutely no idea how to speak to people in a moderate way, and actually makes you become enraged every time he opens his mouth as their spokesman.

 

 

[Andy @ Allerton]

Hope he gets them and many other fans do likewise

[Leo No.8]

 

I'll concede that one Tosh - you're absolutely right!

[Guest Anders Honoré]

Is there anywhere on the ticket that said 'This ticket does not guarantee entry'?

 

I've seen that before, and may be a get-out clause for Uefa. And I doubt they'll recompense his flight and hotel in any case.

 

Surely such a clause is completely illegal? How can you pay money for a service that the vendor can reserve the right to deny you at their leisure and not be expected to reimburse?

[Gilps]

Surely such a clause is completely illegal? How can you pay money for a service that the vendor can reserve the right to deny you at their leisure and not be expected to reimburse?

 

Just about anywhere that is privately owned would reserve the right to refuse entry, regardless of what you'd paid.

 

A plane ticket doesn't guarantee they'll let you on the plane. A landlord throwing you out of his pub isn't obliged to reimburse you for the cost of the drink you're half way through.

Edited May 30, 2007 by Gilps

[Guest Anders Honoré]

Just about anywhere that is privately owned would reserve the right to refuse entry, regardless of what you'd paid.

 

I am not legally trained, but as far as I understand this is primarily a matter of this being the accepted practise, not that it is actually entirely legal.

 

I simply cannot imagine any law that allows anyone to sell a product and then not actually deliver said product without a full refund. As a customer with a certificate promising entry that is evidently unused, I would imagine they have all rights on their side to be compensated.

 

A plane ticket doesn't guarantee they'll let you on the plane. A landlord throwing you out of his pub isn't obliged to reimburse you for the cost of the drink you're half way through.

 

In the case of the plane ticket, it does however guarantee compensation if it doesn't happen. If one wanted to be anal about being thrown out of a pub, legally I imagine one would in fact have a case for this unless you were being violent or disturbing to the other customers, although in practise this would probably always be considered too insignificant to be pursued.

[cymrococh]

I am not legally trained, but as far as I understand this is primarily a matter of this being the accepted practise, not that it is actually entirely legal.

 

I simply cannot imagine any law that allows anyone to sell a product and then not actually deliver said product without a full refund. As a customer with a certificate promising entry that is evidently unused, I would imagine they have all rights on their side to be compensated.

They will use the pictures of Liverpool fans behaving badly as proof that the fans broke the contract, not UEFA.

 

There's no chance this bloke will get anything IMHO.

[Guest Anders Honoré]

They will use the pictures of Liverpool fans behaving badly as proof that the fans broke the contract, not UEFA.

 

There's no chance this bloke will get anything IMHO.

 

'the fans' is not a legally valid entity and the burden of proof lies with the UEFA to prove that HE broke the contract.

[JohnnyH]

They will use the pictures of Liverpool fans behaving badly as proof that the fans broke the contract, not UEFA.

 

There's no chance this bloke will get anything IMHO.

 

Only if they have a picture of him. Pictures of other people should not prejudice his direct case unless they can prove his actions gave the police no other option then to refuse him entry.