Champions League final: Deletion of CCTV footage ‘concerning’ says Liverpool CEO

The deletion of CCTV footage from outside the Stade de France on the day of the Champions League final is “deeply concerning”, says Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan.

The French Senate was told on Thursday that the footage had been automatically deleted after seven days.

“We saw the reports yesterday afternoon regarding the deletion of CCTV footage, which is deeply concerning,” Hogan told LiverpoolFC.com.

The club has contacted Uefa about it.

Hogan said the club had contacted Uefa “to confirm whether or not” footage had been deleted, adding: “We’re waiting to hear back specifically on that.”

The French Football Federation’s director of international relations, Erwan Le Prevost, told the senate footage had not been requested and was therefore automatically deleted after seven days.

Le Prevost added that the images were “extremely violent”.

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French police tear-gassed fans before the match on 28 May and some supporters were attacked by local youths afterwards.

Liverpool fans have complained of fearing for their safety in a crush while trying to get into the stadium and of local gangs from the Saint-Denis area descending on crowds after the match, stealing phones and watches and threatening them with knives.

Hogan said the club is working with “a number of expert mental health organisations” who can “offer urgent support to fans” affected by the trouble.

“I can’t say that a day has gone by where I haven’t had multiple conversations with supporters about what happened in Paris,” Hogan added.

“I’ve had a number of conversations and all of them have been very difficult.”

Hogan said 9,000 fans had filled out a form to feed back on their experience of the final but stressed that these were not statements of crime and anyone wishing to report an offence should do so through the French embassy website.

A French government report published earlier on Friday said a lack of preparation for travelling fans, huge numbers of people without tickets or fake ones, and security failures at the stadium were all factors in the fiasco.

The report found that 2,700 Liverpool fans with valid tickets did not make it into the stadium.

Uefa, who have commissioned an independent report on the events, have taken down a statement on their website which previously claimed Liverpool fans with fake tickets were responsible for the issues.

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