UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has issued an apology to supporters of Liverpool and Real Madrid who were caught up in the chaos prior to the 2022 Champions League final in Paris.
The build-up to the game at the Stade de France was marred by worrying scenes as heavy-handed police needlessly fired tear gas at fans outside the stadium, leading to dangerous overcrowding and crushes.
French authorities despicably tried to blame match-going supporters over the farcical events, although a subsequent report commissioned by UEFA instead pointed the finger of culpability at the governing body of European football over the shambolic organisation surrounding the fixture (The Guardian).
The report even praised the ‘instrumental’ contributions of Liverpool fans for preventing situations which could’ve led to serious injuries or fatalities occurring.
Sadly, there were also chaotic scenes in Istanbul prior to the 2023 Champions League final two weeks ago, with UEFA again coming in for strong criticism over organisational deficiencies.
Ceferin was speaking at the opening day of the European Footballs Fans Congress (via 90min) when he addressed the shambolic turn of events prior to both finals, saying: “We would love to erase events that happened last year from our memories.
“Last year everyone welcomed our decision to move the finals from St. Petersburg to Paris and in the end we all know what happened. Good intentions are many times not enough and we know that and we are sorry for that.
“We are well aware that in Istanbul not everything was perfect. I am certainly not playing down the problems encountered by some. But let us continue working together to improve what can we improve.
“I’m thinking in particular transport links to and from stadium, the hosting of the stadium supporters and access to water and toilets for everyone.”
If nothing else, Ceferin has acknowledged UEFA’s failings regarding the organisation of the last two Champions League finals, but any football fan caught up in the chaos in Paris or Istanbul won’t be able to readily ‘erase’ those ordeals from their memories.
That’s two years in a row that their showpiece club event has been overshadowed by organisational inadequacies, while the Euro 2020 final at Wembley was also marred by dangerous incidents before the match (The Guardian).
Unfortunately, it seems that European football’s governing body aren’t learning from past mistakes, and match-going supporters will understandably remain cynical until such time that there’s demonstrative evidence of lessons being taken on board by those responsible for such major occasions.
This apology from Ceferin is better than no apology at all, but his words will ring hollow for any Liverpool or Real Madrid fan who had to suffer through the shambles of what happened outside the Stade de France 13 months ago.