Opinion

Champions League final: it could have been worse

photo_camera disturbios-final-champions-paris

As the football season comes to an end, experts and fans alike are assessing how the season has gone and predicting what will happen next season. To all this, one could add a serious and unbiased reflection on what happened in this year's Champions League final, held in Paris at the end of May. Serious reflection because the obvious lack of coordination and controversial use of force by the French police could have triggered a tragedy whether it was the death of a fan from gas poisoning or a terrorist attack. The possibility of a terrorist attack is not alarmist considering that it was in the vicinity of the same stadium where the Champions League final was played that three suicide bombers blew themselves up during the Paris attacks in November 2015. Finally, the discussion has to be made without prejudice, not as has been seen in the press, which blames what happened on the fact that the Stade France is located in Saint Denis, a famous Parisian banlieue with the sad reputation of being one of the poorest and most insecure in France. By the same logic we could argue that the stadiums of teams like Hamburg's FC Saint Pauli and Madrid's Rayo Vallecano - located in low-income neighbourhoods - are unsafe by the same standards that apply to Saint Denis.

Considering the failures that occurred in the final will help us to see what can be improved for future sporting events at the same level, especially when we consider that later this year the football World Cup will take place in Qatar, and that France will host the rugby World Cup next year and the Olympic Games in 2024. These three events are certain to attract the attention of terrorist groups, aware of the repercussions of their actions during the events.

It is understandable that the Champions League final fell to France all at once, as it was originally scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia. Three months complicates the security plans of French police forces, all the more so given that France is in an election year, with the consequent expenditure of personnel and resources outside the sporting event. However, it could also be argued that a country as security conscious as France could have understood that the Champions League final is a global event that has to go off without a hitch, preparing for that purpose a security structure that would guarantee the wellbeing of the fans of both teams, control the veracity of the tickets sold and use the minimum of force except in extreme cases. This did not happen: fans of both teams fell victim to both the rudeness of the police and pickpockets, who took advantage of the occasion to rob fans, and finally the controls to ensure that the tickets sold to English fans were genuine failed. All this not only damaged the fans of both teams, but also - and perhaps worse - France's reputation as a country capable of hosting major sporting events with reliability. The excessive use of force by the French police, the chaos in letting in the English fans and the sense of insecurity surrounding the fans raise serious doubts as to whether France will be able to host the 2023 and 2024 events, both of which are major events with large crowds attending them.

The terrorist threat, although not as virulent in Europe as in 2015-2017, is still present and could have been evident during the hosting of the final. While the Islamic State is not the threat it was in the middle of the last decade, it is still present, especially on social media. Individuals radicalised by its propaganda could very likely have taken advantage of the chaos of the final to commit an attack, either by disguising themselves as a fan of the teams playing or as a pickpocket. If an attack had occurred, the match would most certainly have been cancelled, in addition to the sense of chaos and panic that would have gripped the fans, which could have resulted in stampedes with tragic consequences. Fortunately there were no attacks, but the possibility of one reminds us that it is a threat that is still present.

There were also failures in the coordination of information and security between countries and agencies. The UK should have informed France and UEFA if it knew that Liverpool fans had bought fake tickets, giving it time to prevent many fans hindering entry to the stadium. That this was not done reveals the poor relationship between France and Britain in the wake of Brexit, but it is no excuse for preventing cooperation on this issue, where the safety of your citizens in a foreign country is at risk, a duty any country should accept. The chaos in letting in England fans and the use of force by the French police reveals failures in coordination between UEFA and the Welsh authorities in demarcating which areas are the exclusive competence of UEFA and which of the French police and a joint protocol on when to use force. This last point is relevant because, although there is a lot of tension as a police officer at an event as volatile as a football final, the forcefulness with which the French police behaved is not justifiable. The excessive use of force is a symptom of weakness in their ability to handle high-tension situations, raising doubts about their ability to handle events of this level or higher with international bodies.

In conclusion, last month's Champions League final in Paris revealed flaws in the organisation of the security arrangements that could very likely have been exploited to commit a terrorist attack. Although France had three months to prepare for a final that was not originally to be held on its territory, a draft police deployment for such an event could have been put in place to provide for the welfare of fans, to check that tickets were genuine and to ensure the minimum use of force. This was not the case, leaving serious doubts about France's ability to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup and 2024 Olympics. The failures could have been exploited by the Islamic State to commit an attack, because, even if it is not the monster it once was, it still represents a threat to the West. Finally, the lack of coordination in information and cooperation between agencies, due to both poor bilateral relations and a lack of foresight, contributed to the chaos, casting doubt on France's ability to organise similar events in the future.