Heysel, Boniek: ‘With social media, that match would never have been played today’

Turin, 26 May (LaPresse) – ‘Back then, we lived in a different world, without the internet or social media, because otherwise that match would never have been played. Given everything that had happened, it would have been absurd to play it.’ This is what former Juventus striker Zbignew Boniek told LaPresse, recalling the Heysel tragedy that took place 40 years ago in Brussels on 29 May 1985. ‘They decided to play it to calm people down, to bring in soldiers, to ensure everyone's safety, and they forced us to play,’ he added. ‘We realised that something very serious had happened because the dressing room was one of the places where the injured were being taken away, there was a lot of confusion.’ He concluded: ‘They died because the structure collapsed, because people were backing away because they were scared. In my opinion, there are very serious responsibilities.’