Independent Report on the UEFA Champions League Final 2022: Lessons for Venue Owners & Event Operators
The events of 28 May 2022 as Liverpool FC (“LFC") prepared to play Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League Final in Paris (“UCLF22”) have been independently investigated by UEFA, which published a critical report into its findings last month (“Report”).
The Independent Review Panel (“Panel”), led by Dr Brandão Rodrigues, set out to explore and clarify the events that took place, and in doing so, determined that there were eight failures that either caused or contributed to a “near miss” event (i.e. one which had the potential to develop into a mass fatality catastrophe) as well as the organisations accountable for the alleged failures. It identified twenty-one recommendations (page 196 onwards) aimed at optimising the safety and security standards at UEFA events, with the goal of improving services provided at football events more generally and ultimately ensuring that disasters are avoided in the future. The Report’s terms of reference can be found at Appendix I of the Report.
Whilst the Report concerns issues that arose in France where health and safety (“H&S”) laws differ to those in the UK, there are many transferable learnings and implications from a UK H&S law perspective, which all venue owners and event operators should take note of, not just those involved in football.
This article reviews the Report and looks at:
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- Tags: Champions League | Criminal Law | European Convention on Human Rights | Football | France | Health and Safety at Work etc_ Act 1974 | Regulation & Governance | Saint-Denis Convention | Sports | The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 | UEFA
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Written by
Rob Elvin
Rob Elvin is a solicitor-advocate and the managing partner of the Manchester office of Squire Patton Boggs. Following outstanding client feedback, Rob was recognised as a star lawyer in the Acritas StarsTM global database 2020, cited as having “full confidence in his experience and his knowledge, and he was very pragmatic in terms of finding a solution to the issue”.
Rob primarily focuses on leading large and complex investigations across a broad range of health, safety and environmental matters. His expertise also covers nuisance, noise abatement, pollution, permit appeals and environmental warranty and civil claims, judicial review, corporate defence (including bribery and corruption, investigations and corporate manslaughter), inquest law, food hygiene and safety, transport law, including public inquiries in front of traffic commissioners, and product safety, liability and recall.
Beth Thompson
Beth Thompson is an associate in the Environmental, Safety & Health Practice at Squire Patton Boggs and is based in their Manchester office. Beth focuses mainly on corporate defence, acting for companies and individuals facing criminal and regulatory proceedings following serious and fatal incidents. She has experience working for organisations in high-profile public inquiries and inquests, as well as assisting in independent internal investigations. Beth has a particular interest and skillset in working in matters of a sensitive nature, including those concerning mental health, suicides, terrorism and whistleblowing claims.
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