Liverpool promises investigation after chaos outside Champions League final

Thousands of Liverpool Football Club fans who watched their team lose 1-0 to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final had to endure injury prior to insult as they were tear gassed, pepper sprayed and, in some cases, beaten by security personnel at Stade de France just outside Paris before the match Saturday.

Sporadic incidents involving LFC fans being attacked continued throughout the area after as well.

Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox are part of Fenway Sports Group. John Henry is the majority owner of both franchises and Tom Werner is their chairman.

Werner and Henry were both on site in Paris for the final. A somber Henry represented Liverpool at midfield during the post-game presentation of the medals for players from both sides and the Champions League trophy.

A spokesperson for Liverpool told the Herald Sunday it was trying to “establish what happened last night” with a vehicle that may have contained passengers connected to the club’s front office after the game.

A Red Sox spokesperson referred the Herald to a statement issued by LFC Saturday concerning breakdown of security ahead of the match and to a video posted Sunday featuring Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan discussing the conditions experienced by his team’s supporters.

Liverpool is seeking a “full and independent investigation” into what happened before and after the game.

“The breakdown of security in the perimeter was absolutely unacceptable and frankly the treatment of our fans, as well,” Hogan said in the video. “The most important thing is that we know people are safe. It was an incredibly difficult night for a lot of people. We understand there were a lot of different experiences that took place over the course of the evening,” he added.

Before the game, many Liverpool fans who were waiting to enter the stadium were accosted by stadium security and prohibited from certain gates. The start of the game was delayed for 37 minutes.

Henry was in Paris with his wife, Linda Pizzuti Henry. Werner was joined by his fiancee, ABC News medical correspondent Dr. Jen Ashton. Pizzuti Henry and Ashton posted images on social media from the stadium before the match.

Ashton shared an image with her children, Alex and Chloe, who plays hockey for Harvard, on Instagram.

“No hardware for the Reds today but still plenty to remember with this Champions League final. Liverpool had some great chances but the RMA goalkeeper was truly the Man of the Match. Merci Paris; a bientot! #lfc #reds #ynwa,” she wrote.

French authorities and UEFA officials blamed the overcrowding before the game at the turnstiles on people with fake tickets. French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra claimed thousands of English fans “complicated the work of stewards and police forces.”

LFC and Hogan refuted those claims. “It was an incredibly difficult, disappointing night. What happened outside the stadium completely overshadowed it. The stadium entry and the breakdown of security in the perimeter was absolutely unacceptable,” Hogan said.

Multiple videos of Liverpool fans stuck outside the stadium were shared on social media, including one that showed fans shouting: “Let us in. We’ve got tickets.” Several fans broke through security trying to breach the stadium. Police officers with batons and riot shields ran from gate to gate to prevent pockets of fans forcing their way into the stadium without showing tickets.

“Pretty much all of our families were affected, I think,” Liverpool defender Andy Robertson said. “Obviously my tickets were through the club and somehow somebody told one of my mates that he’s got a fake ticket which I can assure you definitely wasn’t because it was obviously through me. So then obviously the French police decided to throw tear gas on fans and families. It’s not been well-organized.”

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.