Liverpool have doubts over neutrality of Uefa review – and its chair

Uefa has failed to satisfy Liverpool that its “independent review” of the policing and safety failures at the Champions League final will be thorough or independent enough, but the club have agreed to meet the Portuguese MP appointed to chair it.

Liverpool did not make a public statement after receiving Uefa’s response to 13 questions they posed last week about the review, but a club source said they were not yet satisfied that the MP, Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, is the right appointment. Nor is the club yet satisfied that the review will be the thorough, independent and transparent investigation it has insisted on.

Uefa announced the review, and Rodrigues’s appointment, without consultation two days after the final at the Stade de France, where thousands of Liverpool and Real Madrid supporters were held in long queues, teargassed by French riot police and attacked in surrounding streets after the match. Uefa has still not retracted the two statements made during the night of chaos which instantly put the blame on Liverpool supporters for late arrival and for thousands seeking entry with forged tickets, allegations that are widely regarded as false.

Liverpool questioned the review’s independence and posed the questions to Uefa about Rodrigues’ suitability and Uefa’s reasons for appointing him. A former Portuguese minister of education, a portfolio which includes responsibility for sport, Rodrigues worked closely in that role with Tiago Craveiro, then the chief executive of the Portuguese Football Federation, who is now an adviser to the Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin.

Uefa is understood to have explained that its principal reason for appointing Rodrigues is that he was the relevant minister when Portugal hosted the last