Matthew Cain's blog

It may seem unnecessarily critical to blame Uefa for the failure of Hamburg airport management as thousands of fans are left stranded at the airport after the Europa League. However European football’s governing body is at fault: it consistently organises events badly and fails to show sufficient respect to the ordinary club supporter.

Uefa must take some responsibility for this particular incident. Reports this morning suggest that Hamburg airport does not usually service night flights. That service is crucial to keep the cost down for fans, to enable them to get there and back during a working week (and ensure parents don’t get into trouble for children missing days off school). My experience of European finals is also that fans will have struggled to find hotel rooms. So Uefa should have considered the transport infrastructure more closely before deciding on Hamburg and given logistical support to the airport.

Uefa has history with poor logistics. In Istanbul they chose a stadium for the 2005 Champions League final that was impossible to access by road for many, leaving fans to walk miles over rubble and wasteland – with no thought of the potential for trouble.

In Athens in 2007 the failure to allow fans with tickets into the ground as a result of choosing a stadium without turnstiles or adequate stewarding obscured the subsequent transport chaos. I was left outside the stadium for 6 hours on a cold, miserable night with 200 other Liverpool fans because there were too few busses to take us to the airport.

On arrival at the airport we found unimaginable chaos given the unextraordinary nature of events. Liverpool fans were sent to a temporary hanger to keep them away from the Milan fans who had the main terminus despite the smaller numbers. In the tent hundreds of fans had taken a kip on the floor after being told that no flights were leaving. Rather than walk away at the entrance – as many did – I stepped over the fans and walked (unchecked) through security and passport control to the ‘departure gate’ – or flap in the marquee. With no audible announcements or useful information on the TV monitors I wandered out to the tarmac and boarded a couple of planes before finding one destined for Stansted. Having lost my ticket some time earlier I wad anxious about boarding but went unchallenged. People came in to the plane gradually until it started take-off – at which point it became clear that there were more passengers than seats. We got by.

Once again, the intricacies of the situation are not attribbutable to Uefa but the common thread suggests a failure of planning and leadership. You can only imagine the chaos if all 60,000 tickets went to fans rather than the 33% left after the corporates and football ‘dignitaries’ have been catered for.

Uefa under Michel Platini has made great strides towards legislating for a more equitable game in Europe. But unless they can get the big events right they will continue to give the impression that they lack respect for the common fan. When stacked against decisions to play on 11 September 2001 and continue through volcanic ash regardless of the difficulties presented to players and fans, it’s harder to dispute.