UEFA to refund Liverpool fans for Paris Champions League final fiasco

UEFA said Tuesday it will reimburse all Liverpool supporters who attended last year's chaos-hit Champions League final against Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Paris.

European football's governing body, which was heavily criticised in an independent report published last month for organisational failures which "almost led to disaster", said its refund scheme would cover the entire Liverpool allocation of nearly 20,000.

It will also cover supporters of Real and other spectators affected by the trouble outside the stadium.

"Refunds will be available to all fans... where the most difficult circumstances were reported," UEFA said, adding that all ticket-holders who did not enter the stadium by the originally scheduled kick-off time, or could not get in at all, would also receive a refund.

"Given these criteria, the special refund scheme covers all of the Liverpool FC ticket allocation for the final, i.e. 19,618 tickets."

Real's 1-0 win on May 28 was overshadowed by the fiasco outside, with the kick-off delayed by 37 minutes as fans struggled to get into France's national stadium after police funnelled them into overcrowded bottlenecks as they approached.

Police then fired tear gas towards thousands of supporters locked behind metal fences on the perimeter to the stadium.

UEFA tried to pin the blame on Liverpool fans arriving late despite thousands having been held for hours outside the stadium before kick-off.