Liverpool fans are most likely to be fully supportive of Real Madrid’s response to UEFA over the refunding of ticket prices for last year’s Champions League final.
What should have been a memorable occasion in Paris between two historic clubs on the biggest stage in European club football sadly turned into a day and night which will linger in the memory for all the wrong reasons.
Many spectators who attended the match were subjected to barbaric treatment by the authorities in and around the Stade de France, with Europe’s governing body only too happy to wash their hands of the inept organisation of the fixture and instead lay the blame on paying supporters.
UEFA announced earlier in the week (via their official website) that they’d refund fans who attended the final, but they’ve been met with a frosty response from Real Madrid, who ultimately won 1-0 on the night.
The LaLiga giants issued a statement (via The Mirror) in which they deemed the offer of reimbursement to be ‘insufficient’, criticising the ‘deficient organisation’ and stating that people had ‘their safety and physical integrity compromised’.
The Bernabeu club have duly ‘decided not to collaborate in the limited compensation procedure promoted by UEFA, which we ask to rectify and assume full responsibility’.
We might have been in opposition to Real Madrid on the pitch that night, and again next week, but we’re very much in alliance with them over their response to UEFA.
While the refund offer is better than nothing, it still doesn’t go nearly far enough from Aleksander Ceferin and co, considering the trauma endured by fans of both clubs who were in Paris that day, and indeed ever since.
The Spanish club could easily have said thanks and taken the compensation, but their firm stance on the matter shows backbone on their part and sends a defiant message to European football’s governing body.
Bravo, Real Madrid – we fully back you on this one.