UEFA Blame Liverpool Fans For Problems In Athens

last SG · 2007-05-25T20:57:44+00:00

Good observations. I think the point has been raised that Athens just can't handle all these.. so UEFA needs to THINK before just appointing a site in futur...

zocoss SG

Stand off: Liverpool fans are met by a wall of riot police outside the stadium

UEFA's head of communications William Gaillard has blamed the behaviour of Liverpool fans for ticketing and disorder problems in the Champions League final against AC Milan. Rafael Benitez's side went down 2-1 to Milan on the night but supporters were the biggest losers as many with genuine tickets were kept out of the Athens Olympic Stadium, while others reportedly managed to force their way in with forged tickets or none at all.

But while Reds fans, some of whom were sprayed with tear gas as unhappy groups protested outside the ground, expressed their displeasure with UEFA's organisation of the event, Gaillard turned the blame squarely on unruly supporters. "It was a suitable venue. It is the stadium where the 2004 Olympics were held and where all the games of the (Greek) national team are held. "Unfortunately in Britain it is the behaviour. Liverpool fans are responsible for the problems before, during and after the game.

"(They were) trying to go over the barriers to get into the stadium without tickets, which is not the behaviour we can condone. It is very easy to say 'this is not a football stadium'. "Milan supporters didn't face the same problems because they didn't behave the same way."

Chaos: Liverpool supporters fight amongst themselves outside the Olympic Stadium

Gaillard defended a system that did not include the use of turnstiles and also praised the work of Greek police in containing flashpoints to a minimum. "In terms of fans pushing and attempting to get over the barriers, with turnstiles there could have been a tragedy. "At one point the police were overwhelmed and it is much to their credit that there were no dangerous incidents."

Gaillard went on to admit he felt sorry for fans who had acted in good faith and been disappointed but absolved UEFA of any blame. "I am very sorry for what has happened to fans who had regulation tickets but at the same time there is a collective responsibility for behaviour. Some are obviously honest fans who got tickets and obeyed the rules but because of those who did not they found themselves in an uncomfortable position.

"Some responsibility we (UEFA) could accept is we did not choose a stadium with 250,000 seats, but they don't exist." Former Conservative leader Michael Howard disagreed with Gaillard, claiming the Olympic Stadium was not ready to cope with the match. "I didn't think the match should have been held at the stadium. It's not a football stadium and is not equipped to cope with that number of people.

"Ticket checks were a joke. Many people with valid tickets were not allowed in. "That is not acceptable and UEFA really need to look at their procedures and make sure everything is all in order."

Aftermath: the tickets fiasco led to ugly scenes in the streets around the stadium

allentyb SG

ya, you would post this sort of thread, and then when i posted a thread about MAN UTD fan are the cause the riot during the ucl champion league, you deleted away

zocoss SG

Sorry there were threads about it already then and your starting post was a personal view not a general report... I didn't add my own views on this, not even a single word. And since no where else is carrying this news yet, it deserve a read since it is publish on all over the different Football sites.

This is a Football forum and this is a football related news. Trying to cover things up and trying to prevent others from being informed isn't the way to go.

Anyway, on a lighter side, didn't you say Pool fan don't create trouble? Its just a report, why are you so sensitive? Almost ever club have this problem, its just a matter of when it happens only.

sand king SG

lol, the 1st pic the police officer looks like he is saluting Hitler Laughing

omgukilledkenny SG

wtf !!?!! Laughing

lpx88 SG

How the fark did that happen?Imagine the Pool fans form all over the world came in with their tickets and they were denied entry?Wtf?

ronaldog SG

Bro, tis is the second MU forums mah! wat do U expect?

Everything against MU= NO!
Other Sh1T against other clubs(esp top 4)= YES! + add some more stank to it!

Join the rest of us at the other "Offical soccer forum" next season, assure the comments are more evenly spread out. Cool

ghimpheng SG

you didn't knew that all football and epl is pro man utd forum ?

allentyb SG

maybe i should have posted somewhere else, and it wouldn't be deleted

geez

what an excuse to delete a thread away, since it is a damaging report about MAN UTD, and furthermore it is actual fact about MAN UTD FANS created the riot in the stadium

geez

you might as well, said that any damaging report about MAN UTD report are not welcome in this forum since you are also a MAN UTD fan

sorry, i don't believe your bull s h i t, you deleted my thread, which actually is a true finding about MAN UTD. for goodness sake, you might as well, said that hooligan problem occur in england,

and lastly, you don't have to delete it away, you could have lock the thread away, but you chose to delete the thread away

that really explain your character

please spare me your bull s h i t, since you are a MAN UTD FAN, so you decided to delete the report

please for goodness sake, it is actual finding, and i found that report from yahoo sports, and so please spare me your bull s h i t, and you already abuse the power of the mod

so please for goodness sake, don't bull s h i t anymore, and i posted it, so that all fans could read about

i should have posted it at liverpool forum so that it will not be deleted

you abuse the power of the mod!!!!!!!!!!!

lastly i am not being sensitive, i just happen to have a good memory that you deleted my thread away

and this thread is just double standard, and it is the your duty as a mod, that i question, not the thread, itself,

so please spare me the bull s h i t, because you already abuse the power of the mod, that already explain your character

and lastly, there are alot of double posting of thread in man utd forum and other forum going on, i don't see you, deleting it away, so spare me your bull s h i t.

don't make me, to search all of the forum, just to find all the double posting, that has been going on in the forum, because you jolly well, knows what i am saying!

Patrik SG

Laughing

iceFatboy SG

could all of us be a bit open-minded and not pin everything on MUFC??

and for those justing waiting to add oil, shame on you.
Cause you are just following someone's tailcoat.

I am quite annoyed at why English Fans are always blame first for anything.
cause we do know the English has cleaned up their act.

iceFatboy SG

dog, before you even press submit, do a spell check lah..

iceFatboy SG

I seriously thought you are above all these.
but you just a double-headed snake.

one end tell people not to post crude remarks, one end, engage in under the belt hitting.

you are low, man..

iceFatboy SG

what's the point about evenly spread out??
You have shown you are biased against MUFC, so how can anyone believe you?
If you disagree, just show me till date, one intellectual discussion or thread you contribute that openly talks about other clubs other than Chelsea?
Bet you can't find one..

zocoss SG

Oh man, you are such a sensitive guy... Rolling Eyes I don't see other Pool fans here making a big deal out of this because i guess they are still rational about it... I don't know where have you been over the last 18 hours but this incident actually happened you know? it is a fact alright, there are a lot of pictures of prove... So just live with it man! And given time it will past. Your support for a club has obviously gone over-board...

If you want to compare, just go and take a look at Sports over the last 9 months, or you can also take a look at the Man u forum. There are a lot of anti-man utd threads out there, and i don't mean damaging reports, just plain Anti... But do you see me even bother by it? Well no, it doesn't bother me one single bit, i will probably just laugh at it after reading the posts within, just like i am laughing off at your accusation right now. But i can't imagine how you would have taken it...

Obviously you can't differentiate between a proper thread from a one out to flame the masses... Because i see you, yes... yourself playing a major part on a lot of those flaming threads over the months... I am sorry that you can't accept the facts and I got you all upset because i choose to post on a major Football incident which happened bearly 18 hrs ago. But i am not sorry to have brought it cos this is a Football discussion forum and apart from you, there may be others who would be interested and have a different opinion or may simply just like to be informed that's all.

Anyway, my take is you don't need a good memory to recall something like that, maybe just being resentful about it kept it on your mind after all this time... My honest opinion of it was, it was posted out to flame others here, I believed the people here more or less knows what you are all about after all this time. Here was a guy who had hardly posted in here before then suddenly one fine day decided to post on a topic out to taunt the masses. Say what you like but it clearly came across as that to me. You are free to post it in the Pool folder or the Sports folder, its perfectly fine by me cos it doesn't concern me if the flaming gets out of hand over there cos my primary objective is just here. Not too long ago Sports used to be a place for flaming and taunting but you don't see me getting involved with it, do you? But i see lots of you over there during the exchanged.

And i don't understand whats it to you that i delete it or lock it? Does it make a difference to you? But i can tell you my part. This is a informative football forum, a lot of new stories and interesting topics gets uploaded everyday, therefore i don't see why we should keep a useless thread lock and taking up space on the first page at the same time. Yours isn't the first threads i have deleted, i have also deleted my own as well as my fellow mods threads if they are of no interest to others anymore. So please grow up and don't take it so personal.

Lastly, it doesn't bother me one bit what you think of my character, and i don't care if you want to search the entire Singapore let alone just this sgforum... It will just confirm and prove to me the resentment you have over all these... Your threats of wanting to search all of the forum isn't new to me anymore, you have already said it a few times... You seem to think "its so cool" Rolling Eyes to threaten others here as and when you like... If you want, please go ahead and do it and get it out of the way once and for all so that i don't have to hear it from you again in future... At most i can tell you is... it will probably only give me a good laugh at the time you spent (waste) doing it regardless of how much "free" time you may claim you have... Anyway, this would be my answer just in case you bother... Laughing

And do get one thing straight, I am not here to get your appraisal or anyone's for that matter... What you think of my character would be the least thing i would be worry about. I am just here as part of a community to share and discuss about the happenings in the Football world only. It is just unfortunate that you can't seem to accept the unpleasant with the good. But i would suggest that you stop whining, cos you will only come across like a disgruntled customer to me... and nothing more.

anhydrouscoppersulphate SG

wa lao sian so many clones one. stick to topic leh kns. more like flaming than discussing soccer. still call yourselves soccer fans. more like disgrace

zocoss SG

Townsend: Fans must take some blame for the scenes in Athens, but UEFA must look at their policy, too

A couple of Liverpool fans approached me inside the TV compound in the Olympic Stadium, wearing official blue photographers vests. "Andy, get us a couple of cameras, so we can get to the side of the pitch." They were in an official secure area and didnt have a camera between them but had somehow overcome a strict accreditation pass checkpoint and travelled through an X-ray machine to get that far.

Part of me admired their cheek, but their audacity was nothing compared to the horror stories I was hearing on the way home from Athens on Thursday. Stories that you hope are not true: stories of Liverpool supporters stealing tickets from other Liverpool supporters who had paid for their seats at the European Cup Final.

These are fans famous for their loyalty and passion to the cause, forged partly by the football disasters of Heysel and Hillsborough. Then there was a big Scouser, a lad who could clearly look after himself, but who talked of the overcrowding in the Liverpool section, comparing it to Hillsborough and talking of the fear of being crushed in powerful surges. "If I fall over here, Im in serious trouble," he recalled. Others talked of frightening experiences inside and around a stadium built for athletics and inadequate for a football match. Fans should be allowed to join the party; Im all for them being part of the action. Supporters with a passion for their team will go to extraordinary lengths to watch them around the world, like those who follow the Republic of Ireland abroad.

With football in such great demand and cheap flights available on the internet, people will gamble in the hope they can beg for a ticket at the venue. But at what point does common sense kick in and the individual takes responsibility for what happens next? At what point does the supporter in this case the Liverpool fan think "I havent got a ticket, so Ill find myself a bar or a big screen and enjoy it from there?" Thats what the Irish followers would do, thats what happened when Celtic took over Seville for the 2003 UEFA Cup Final against Porto. Yet many in Liverpool colours decided: "Ive got no ticket, but thats not going to stop me getting in."

At best, they were willing to take the place of a fellow supporter. At worst, they were placing the lives of others in danger. As a consequence of this attitude, fans with genuine tickets couldnt get in and some were bulldozed, baton-charged and battered instead of taking their place for the final.

gigabyte14 SG

allen, really is started by liverpool 1

they sore losers

it's all stated in the news, really.

gLc SG

some ppl cannot accept facts one lah..

Laughing

allentyb SG

i already mention before, i so happen to have a good memory, i can even remember, which of my thread kenna deleted by FI and which thread kenna locked by FI

But you as a mod,have stood to the lowest, by deleting my thread, if it doesn't bother you, you wouldn't have delete the thread

now you still want to bull s h i t about, i am resentful, please, come up with better bulls h i t, because what you have done, already explain about your character a s a fan