On 29 May 1985, a crowd crush and the collapse of a stadium wall killed 39 spectators and injured about 600 others at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, roughly an hour before the kickoff of that year's European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus. Fighting broke out across a thin, fenced divide between a Liverpool section and the stadium's supposedly neutral Section Z, which was in practice populated mostly by Juventus supporters who had obtained tickets through Belgian outlets and travel agents. After the dividing fence was torn down and a small number of police officers at the boundary were overwhelmed, the largely Juventus crowd fled toward the pitch and the exits — both blocked by police and officials — and then toward a decrepit concrete perimeter wall. Fans already pressed against the wall were crushed, and its lower section collapsed under the pressure, burying people beneath it; some climbed to safety while many others died or were badly injured.
Of the 39 people killed, 32 were Italian (including two minors), four were Belgian, two French, and one from Northern Ireland. Heysel Stadium, then 55 years old, had failed prior inspections and was in poor repair; some turnstiles reportedly went unmanned, and Liverpool fans without tickets were seen kicking holes in an outer wall to enter. Despite the deaths, UEFA officials, the Italian, English and Belgian football associations, Belgium's Ministry of the Interior, and the Brussels city police jointly decided the match should proceed rather than risk further unrest amid a state of siege declared in the city. Juventus won 1–0 on a penalty scored by Michel Platini.
A Belgian investigation led by judge Marina Coppieters concluded, after eighteen months, that responsibility lay not solely with fans but also with police and stadium authorities. Thirty-four people were arrested and questioned, and 26 Liverpool fans were charged with manslaughter — the only extraditable offense available — over the death of Juventus fan Mario Ronchi; they were extradited to Belgium in September 1987 and formally charged with manslaughter in connection with all 39 deaths, plus assault. Their trial opened in October 1988 alongside three Belgians: police captain Johan Mahieu and police chief Michel Kensier, both in charge of policing at the stadium, and Belgian Football Association head Albert Roosens, charged over the sale of Liverpool-section tickets to Juventus fans. In April 1989, 14 of the Liverpool fans were convicted of manslaughter, and Mahieu was found guilty of manslaughter; Liverpool fan Ronnie Jepson was among those acquitted.
UEFA banned English clubs from European competition indefinitely; the ban was lifted for most clubs from the 1990–91 season, effective 11 July 1990, and for Liverpool from 1991–92. UEFA separately barred Belgium from hosting a European final for at least ten years. Heysel Stadium was rebuilt as the King Baudouin Stadium in 1994. Victims including Claudio Zavaroni and Mario Ronchi have since been named in memorials in Turin, Reggio Emilia, at the rebuilt stadium, and at Liverpool's Anfield ground.
Credit: Jari AsselmanCC BY-SA 4.0SourceUNSOLVEDListen
