Liverpool supporters who were pepper-sprayed, crushed and locked out of last season's Champions League final at the Stade de France are set to be invited to the country's hosting of the Rugby World Cup later this year, France's sports minister has revealed.
Amelie Oudea-Castera confirmed she has held initial talks with Liverpool Football Club officials over the proposal and is hopeful of coming together on an arrangement to show "sport friendship and welcome".
Last month, a 158-page independent report commissioned by UEFA was published and cleared Liverpool supporters of any wrongdoing during last season's final against Real Madrid, where both sets of fans were subject to hazardous stewarding, police brutality and in some cases even mugged by local gangs after the game.
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Initially, UEFA, the governing body of the European game, had displayed a message inside the Stade de France citing the 'lateness' of Liverpool supporters as the reason for the fixture being delayed by over 30 minutes.
And now almost nine months after the showpiece European final took place, the French Government are set to try and rebuild their shattered relationship with Anfield officials and the city of Liverpool by inviting affected supporters back to the country for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Speaking at the French parliament’s lower chamber earlier this week, Oudea-Castera said: “I have been in touch regularly with the president of the club [Liverpool] and I submitted our idea to him our will, almost our hope, to be able to invite them to one of the matches of England during the Rugby World Cup in 2023."
American-based political publication Politico adds that a French government official later revealed the motivation behind the invite, saying: “The objective is to facilitate fans of the club … to show that English fans are always welcome, as a sign of sport friendship and welcome.”
England begin their World Cup campaign against Argentina at the Stade de Velodrome on September 9, before facing Japan and Chile in Nice and Lille in their remaining group stage fixtures. The Stade de France will host ten games during the competition, including the final on October 28.
UEFA's independent review which leaned on the expertise of politicians, academics and lawyers, and was originally leaked to several media outlets prior to landing at the desk of Liverpool Football Club last month, found it "remarkable" that those who attended the Champions League final in the region of Saint-Denis didn't lose their lives due to the "clear and immediate danger of a fatal crush". The report also found there was an "absence of overall control or oversight of safety and security".
After examining the review, Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan revealed his "sense of pride" in the way in which Reds supporters acted on May 28, 2022.
"So, just a sense of pride in terms of our supporters and the behaviour of our supporters," he told Liverpoolfc.com. "I think if you read the report, it’s mentioned a number of times in terms of being called a near miss. And frankly, I think if it wasn’t Liverpool supporters, people might have reacted differently.
"I think the history that we have as a club going back to Hillsborough really made people behave and, you know, I think the sense of our supporters policing themselves in the face of what was incredibly heavy-handed policing. I was in those crowds and I saw the behaviour of our supporters, and that’s the reason why it was a near miss and why it wasn’t an actual disaster."
Following the eight-month investigation, the panel of experts provided UEFA with 21 recommendations, which Liverpool Football Club has called on the governing body to "fully and transparently implement to ensure safe passage for all supporters at every UEFA match".
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