Lille have hit out at being forced to adopt entrenched views in the friction with Manchester United following the crowd trouble at their Champions League game, which had echoes of the Hillsborough tragedy.
French riot police used tear gas when they believed an uncontrollable situation was unfolding in a stand behind one of the goals and hemmed-in supporters were coming through a gap in the perimeter fencing.
Manchester United went on to win Tuesday’s last-16, first-leg match through a disputed goal from a free kick by Ryan Giggs, with the Old Trafford return on March 7.
The disciplinary committee of European football’s governing body Uefa will be meeting on March 22 to discuss the issue and Lille director general Xavier Thuilot said the entrenched positions of both sides was not helping the issue.
”We aren’t very happy with the polarised nature in this affair,” Thuilot told Thursday’s edition of L’Equipe. ”Clubs like Feyenoord have been strongly punished after the behaviour of their supporters and you can’t only have one point of view.
”As we are being attacked, it is making us more entrenched in our views and makes us want to go as far as we can in stating our case. We are calm about all this.
”Some English supporters came to express their anger over here, which they can’t do back home.”
At least two supporters, one a schoolboy, were lifted over the barrier while security officials slammed shut a gate that had been pushed open by United supporters trying to relieve the pressure.
What could have been a chilling reminder of the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989 — in which 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death in an FA Cup semifinal with Nottingham Forest — was not aided by the arrival of French riot police who fired tear gas into the stand.
Ironically, Lille play their European matches at Lens because their Metropole stadium does not meet Uefa standards. A statement from Europe’s governing body on Wednesday said they had officially opened an investigation into the matter. — AFP
