Explaining why Liverpool fans were treated disgracefully during Champions League chaos

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As the fallout from the chaotic scenes at the Champions League final continues to gather pace, it is worth considering one major question: how did this happen?

Liverpool fans were kettled into bottle-necks by the Parisian police. They were forced to pass through tight spaces for so-called security reasons. They were crushed by the weight of those around them, forcing many to climb fences to escape. They were teargassed and beaten with batons. Disabled fans and children were caught up in the panic. And then they were blamed by the French government for causing the problems.

Organisers UEFA initially blamed fans for turning up late. The French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said “thousands” of Liverpool fans “forced entry and assaulted stewards”. The French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera then blamed "30 to 40,000" Liverpool supporters for arriving at the Stade de France without tickets, or with fake tickets.

The UK government, Liverpool Football Club, journalists who were on the ground and the supporters themselves have rejected these allegations. Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has demanded an apology , while the government has demanded a full independent investigation into what unfolded in Paris. Liverpool fans who survived the Hillsborough