American university academics have been condemned over an "expert" report on stadium disasters that falsely brands as hooligans, two sets of fans from British soccer clubs.
The United States Sports Academy sparked outrage when its "Sports Journal" web site accused Liverpool supporters of revelling in the deaths of 39 supporters at the 1985 European Cup final against Juventus in Belgium.
It claimed Reds fans were "jumping round in celebration" as bodies were being taken to a makeshift mortuary outside the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.
The report by A.J. Haley, Phd and Brian S. Johnson also says fans urinated on the corpses of the dead at Heysel.
But this was an outright lie, later officially retracted by The Sun newspaper, after it was published in reports of the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster in which 96 Liverpool supporters died.
Professor Rogan Taylor, a director of Liverpool University's Football Industry Group, and founder of the Football Supporters Association in the aftermath of Heysel, condemned the report as "idiotic".
He said: "This is the the kind of nonsense that myself and other Liverpool supporters have had to endure for more than 20 years.
"Unfortunately, it's par for the course from idiots who know nothing about nothing, but it is disturbing that it should be published in an academic journal.
"It is patently inaccurate and what is even more outlandish is that the authors of this report have even fallen into the trap of transposing a deplorable lie from one disaster to another.
"The report is clearly unreliable and should be retracted in its entirety."
The report also blames the fire at Bradford's Valley Parade ground , which killed 56 people in 1985, on hooliganism - suggesting that it was caused by a home-made petrol bomb.
Bradford City Chairman Mark Lawn condemned the claims which happened when a wooden stand caught fire from a discarded cigarette that set light to accumulated litter.
Mr Lawn said: "They should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. People died entirely innocently as a result of a fire caused by a discarded cigarette. It was an accident.
"If they are going to turn around and tar Bradford City with the name of hooligans, do they not realise its is going to upset the families of those who died?
"That is certainly a false statement - and as someone who was there and watched it happen, I am more than annoyed.
"If they want to mention the fire and quote what actually happened then by all means do so, but to connect it with hooligans is wrong and to do that is derogatory to the people who lost their lives."
Dr Arthur Ogden, who oversees articles published in the US Sports Journal and its web site, has invited Liverpool and Bradford supporters to set the record straight by writing an article in response.
Dr Ogden said: "We do invite those people who have concerns with this particular piece to write a response article.
"We will be glad to review it and publish it as a refutation.
"To do anything rather than ask people to write a refutation would be a censorship. It is something that needs investigation."
Razor, Auckland around 2 years, 6 months ago