UEFA announced this Friday that it will begin engaging fans in preparations for the European club and international finals after it was accused of security breaches in the 2021/22 Champions League final.
“By implementing the best practices outlined in our action plan and continuing to engage fan groups, we are committed to ensuring that everyone can enjoy our events in a safe, inclusive and enjoyable environment. We appreciate your cooperation and will continue to work together to ensure that every fan is heard, engaged and respected,” said UEFA General Secretary Theodore Theodoridis of Greece, referring to the official website of European football’s governing body.
On 13 February, an independent investigation commissioned by UEFA and led by former Portuguese Minister of Education Thiago Brandão Rodrigues held the body “primarily responsible” for “failures that almost led to disaster” at the Stade de France in Paris on 28 February . May 2022 when Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0.
UEFA delayed the start of the 2021/22 Champions League final by 36 minutes after thousands of fans of the English club had difficulty accessing the venue, and issued a “sincere apology to all spectators” a few days later.
This game was marked by a scene of chaos around the Stade de France, but no serious injuries, unfortunately, and before the game, dozens of fans tried to force their way into the area, and the police used tear gas to disperse this crowd.
In a UEFA-commissioned report, accessed by Lusa, the panel also blames the French capital’s police authorities and the French Football Federation for difficulties in “maintaining order” but “does not exonerate UEFA”.
The action plans unveiled this Friday by the Nyon, Switzerland-based body now include the proposals from this investigation and the “valuable contributions of supporter groups” to a set of “comprehensive operational measures” to “improve security.”
This measure was praised by the chief executive of Football Supporters Europe (FSE), Frenchman Ronan Even, an organization with which UEFA has an “extensive and positive dialogue”.
“We have seen firsthand that the level of fan engagement has increased over the past year and we welcome the increased approach to taking into account the views of fans ahead of the final,” an FSE spokesman told UEFA’s official website.
The cooperation between these two entities will allow collecting and tracking information on the number of fans who came to the final, improve communication with fans and enter into agreements with the host city and local authorities to create “fan zones” and, if necessary, public areas for stowaways.
“FSE representatives are also included in the operational teams for each final and participate in a comprehensive review process to ensure that lessons learned are taken into account in future finals,” UEFA said, highlighting the increase in “the number of its responsible staff”. for safety and security” at these events.
The European football regulator has also put in place mechanisms to avoid a repeat of the turmoil in the last Champions final, when “images from the stadium’s security cameras were destroyed after the game without prior notice or knowledge from UEFA”.
This season’s Champions League final is scheduled for June 10 in Istanbul, Turkey, following Europa League decisions on May 31 in Budapest, Hungary and the Europa League on June 7 in Prague, Czech Republic.
Unlike these three men’s continental club competitions, whose finalists have yet to be determined, the women’s Champion will play Barcelona against Wolfsburg in the decider scheduled for June 3 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
“UEFA has ordered reports with an audience model for this year’s final,” concluded the body, led by Slovenian Aleksandar Čeferin, who will only sell digital tickets.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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