Rangers have joined forces with Eintracht Frankfurt and Football Supporters Europe to provide an update on the fightback against UEFA over the Europa League Final fiasco.
It what is a welcome development, the joined up approach adds to the scrutiny on UEFA over events in Seville, especially after the latest scandal for the governing body with the situation that has overshadowed the Champions League Final at the Stade de France on Saturday.
A joint statement from the three parties, released earlier today, included:
“These issues could easily have led to even more severe problems on the night and it was only thanks to the calmness and mutual respect of both sets of fans towards each other that there were not more severe injuries suffered. All three parties applaud the remarkable calmness of the two fan bases, given the situation they faced.”
“Apart from the severe lack of food and – even more critically in the soaring temperatures – of water, there were several organisational problems around policing, body searches and beyond. Both clubs, as well as FSE, received a huge amount of complaints and witness statements from fans present in the stadium.”
Last Friday, representatives of Eintracht Frankfurt, @RangersFC and @FansEurope met to debrief and discuss several significant organisational issues arising from the recent UEFA Europa League final in Seville. 📰⤵️#SGE
— Eintracht Frankfurt (@eintracht_eng) May 30, 2022
Outcome
Retrospectively, nothing can be done now about the shocking lack of provisions for supporters during the game in Seville or the terrible conduct from police and security during searches upon entry to the stadium. Thankfully, there were no serious consequences after what happened for any supporters of both clubs – the damage was limited but it can’t be left to UEFA to think that their failure in duty of care was in any way acceptable.
By continuing to lobby and effectively embarrass the governing body, the collective approach will go a long way to getting concessions or gestures from UEFA with the aim of ensuring these issues aren’t repeated but as events on Saturday in France showed, that will be far easier said than done.
From ticket costs to access, to policing and the farcical ‘pre-game show’, UEFA continue to demonstrate that ordinary match going fans are of little interest and importance to them.
The fight must go on.