Champions League fiasco: What next for UEFA?
Alamy
Chaos before and after Saturday’s Champions League final saw ordinary fans, sponsors and VIPs caught up in scenes that were reminiscent of previous stadium disasters.
Although no one was killed, both UEFA and the French authorities have suffered a huge reputational loss and fans are furious at their treatment. How do they restore faith of supporters, sponsors and broadcasters?
Why it matters: The Champions League final is the showcase event of UEFA’s showcase competition. But has the brand been damaged just before tenders open for its next cycle?
The perspective: An events experts tells us that fan behaviour has changed, something that has been accentuated by the pandemic. Has event management kept up?
1 June 2022 - 5:07 PM
For the acclaimed author and Liverpool supporter, Adrian Tempany, Saturday’s Champions League final in Paris was the “2nd worst experience” he’d ever had at a football match – “after Hillsborough”.
That match, a 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, saw 97 supporters unlawfully killed and hundreds more injured and traumatised in a crush caused by incompetent policing. It was then covered up for years by a fog of officia
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