Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt fans ignored by UEFA as Liverpool supporters given refund for Champions League final outrage
The treatment of Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt fans at the Europa League final last season has been ignored in light of the appalling experiences of Liverpool supporters at the Champions League final.
The Reds fans who travelled to Paris for the 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid on 28 May are to be given refunds, after being entirely vindicated for the outrageous scenes outside the ground [FourFourTwo, 7 March].
That is the least they deserve after being crushed outside the Stade de France, pepper sprayed by police, and then blamed by the authorities and UEFA for their troubles.
But the experiences of Gers supporters in Seville just 10 days earlier were also dreadful, with food and water running out at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, leaving fans to scavenge for water amid temperatures as high as 40 degrees late in the evening.
Running water also then ran out, while there were crushes outside as water, sun cream and phone chargers were seized by police [The Athletic, 23 May].
UEFA subsequently issued an apology to Rangers supporters [BBC, 20 May], after having fined the club multiple times in the run to the final, but not until Sevilla had blamed the fans for the situation.
In both showpiece finals the organisation was woefully lacking, with authorities actively causing danger to increase, and yet in both cases the finger of blame was initially pointed at the victims of the situation.
It is absolutely right that Liverpool supporters are compensated for their treatment, but there should also be some recompense for Rangers and Eintracht supporters who were denied the basic necessity of drinking water in the summer heat of southern Spain.
Sky Sports producer Andrew Dickson wrote on Twitter on Wednesday morning (8 March) in reaction to the refund news: “Don’t suppose there’ll be any going back to Rangers or Eintracht Frankfurt fans.
“Still quite bemused by the lack of focus on how poorly fans at the Europa League final fared given the (absolutely justified) attention given to last year’s Champions League final.”
And he is right, because UEFA are all too happy to crack down on fans misbehaving, and yet when the shoe was on the other foot, on the two biggest nights of the European football calendar, they let supporters down in the extreme, with it no exaggeration to say that on both occasions it is lucky that everyone survived.
A refund doesn’t make up for that, but is the least the governing body can do, and yet in the case of the Light Blues fanbase they haven’t even received that.
In other Rangers news, player spotted at Auchenhowie could save the club millions this summer so Michael Beale must make good on his promise.