Heysel 25th anniversary marked

Commemorative events have taken place to mark the 25th anniversary of the Heysel Stadium disaster in Brussels. UEFA president Michel Platini attended a ceremony and church service in Turin.

On 29 May 1985, 39 spectators died amid crowd disturbances before the European Champion Clubs' Cup final between Liverpool FC and Juventus at the Heysel Stadium in the Belgian capital. Michel Platini played for Juventus in the match.

The UEFA president joined senior officials from both clubs at a special ceremony, laying flowers to remember the victims, before taking part in a church service at the Chiesa Cattolica Parrocchiale Gran Madre Di Dio in Turin.

"This match did not last 90 minutes," he said. "It is still being played. That evening has never finished. It has remained in our life and will always and forever be there. No one who ever saw the tragedy, as a player or merely as a spectator or television viewer, will ever be able to erase it from their memory. Today, we are all here to pay tribute to the 39 victims. Our thoughts and our hearts are with them and their families."

An official ceremony has also been held in Brussels, with a minute's silence observed and flowers laid at the monument for the victims at the venue, which is now called the Roi Baudouin Stadium. UEFA was represented by the president of the Royal Belgian Football Association (URBSFA/KBVB), François De Keersmaecker, and the association's director general Jean-Marie Philips.

Liverpool have also unveiled a permanent tribute at Anfield to the 39 fans who lost their lives in the Heysel disaster.