Report: Champions League final fan treatment 'constituted criminal assault'

An independent report by leading academics into the chaos at May's Champions League final claims police treatment of fans "constituted criminal assault".

The report also suggests UEFA's "egregious failures" led to thousands of supporters being caught up in severe congestion on the approaches to the Stade de France and those who reached the ground being forced up against the perimeter fence as ticketing and turnstile problems caused huge bottlenecks.

In addition to being targeted with violence by local gangs ahead of the showpiece between Liverpool and Real Madrid in the French capital on 28 May, Paris police also used tear gas on supporters waiting to get into the venue and on those in the fan zone several miles away.

A panel led by Professor Phil Scranton, who also led the Hillsborough Independent Panel into the 1989 disaster in which 97 Liverpool fans died and has been an advocate for the affected families, has produced its own report based on 485 eyewitness testimonies - two thirds of which mention fearing for their lives on the night.

"Persistent, random police assaults on fans, and unprovoked deployment of tear gas on men, women and children trapped in confined spaces, was reckless and dangerous. It constituted criminal assault," states the report.

"The hostility of the police prior to the match (at the Fan Zone and stadium approaches), during (in the stadium) and after (at the stadium, the stations and in the city) demonstrated a collective mind-set which resulted in breaches of criminal law.

"At the Stade de France there were egregious failures on all aspects of UEFA's responsibility for stadium safety.

"Sustained failure in crowd management severely compromised the health and well-being of fans.

"It is clear from fans'