MANCHESTER: UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin admitted on Thursday that there were problems with this year’s Champions League final after fans were caught up in gridlocked traffic around the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.
There were reports that some supporters had to get out of buses and walk for miles ahead of Manchester City’s 1-0 win against Inter Milan in European club soccer’s biggest game on June 10, with problems after the final as well.
“We are well aware that in Istanbul not everything was perfect. And I am certainly not playing down the problems encountered by some,” Ceferin said during a speech at the European Football Fans’ Congress in Manchester.
But the head of European soccer’s ruling body said UEFA is working to improve the treatment of supporters.
“I’m thinking in particular transport links to and from the stadium, the hosting of the stadium supporters and access to water and toilets for everyone,” he said. “I can assure you that next year’s Champions League final at Wembley and Euro 2024 in Germany will be a unique experience for fans.
“On the whole this year’s finals in Budapest, Prague, Eindhoven and indeed Helsinki went well.”
Ceferin also apologized to soccer fans after the chaotic security failures that caused a near-disaster at the Champions League final in Paris last year.
“We would love to erase events that happened last year from our memories,” he said. “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.”
Investigators held UEFA mostly responsible for the failed security operation at the 2022 Champions League final that put the lives of Liverpool and Real Madrid fans at risk.
Tens of thousands of fans were held in increasingly crushed queues for hours before the game at the 75,000-capacity Stade de France. Many fans were fired on with tear gas by police.
STOP THE RACISTS
Soccer continues to face a fight to rid itself of racism, with Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior suffering sickening abuse in recent months.
Ceferin called on fans to help drive out the culprits.
“Will you help us rid the game of people who hide in the crowd in order to pour out messages of hate because of a player’s skin color or sexual orientation?” he said. “We must shout, call out and rid ourselves of these idiots, who discredit both football and you the fans.
“Let’s work together to put our house in order and ban from our stadiums who comes not for love of football like you, but for the hatred for others.”
Ceferin also condemned abuse aimed at officials, such as referee Anthony Taylor, who was targeted after the Europa League final.
“I will never accept the kind of threats and intimidation and violence that some people are subjected to as we saw just recently,” he said.
