UEFA is facing allegations of providing “completely untrue” evidence during its internal investigation into the 2022 Champions League final.
According to The Guardian, the governing body of European football has been accused of presenting evidence that is deemed to be entirely false in the context of the events surrounding the final match between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
Leading up to the game, numerous fans experienced extensive delays, confrontations with local troublemakers, and inadequate policing.
The accusations have been leveled by Sharon Burkhalter-Lau, who served as the second-in-command during the game and held the position of UEFA’s operations director at that time.
UEFA established a panel of experts to investigate the occurrences surrounding the final match. While they determined that the governing body bore “primary responsibility” for the mishap, they absolved the safety and security unit, headed by Zeljko Pavlica, a close associate of President Aleksander Ceferin, of any wrongdoing.
Instead, they attributed blame to Burkhalter-Lau’s events division, stating that they had “marginalised” the safety unit.
The Guardian has seen memos sent to UEFA’s general secretary, Theodore Theodoridis and three other senior officials in which Burkhalter-Lau rejected the evidence and claimed it was “completely untrue”.
She instead claimed that the problems mainly stemmed from the Paris police, over whom UEFA has no control.
Burkhalter-Lau has also alleged that Pavlica and his team missed numerous safety briefings and failed to provide important information and context for the planning process.
The report claims that Pavlica’s background, which is in personal security, has previously been questioned by some safety professionals.
Burkhalter-Lau wrote: “The claim that Uefa Events… senior management marginalised the Uefa security unit is based on statements provided by Uefa that were untrue and concerted.”
It remains to be seen if UEFA will issue an official rebuttal to the allegations.