UEFA, LFC - The ball's in your court
AMIDST the fall-out from UEFA's latest masterclass in bungling bureaucracy, an opportunity surely now exists for those who claim to be running the game for the benefit of the 'footballing family' to prove just that.
The decision to move Liverpool's Champions League fixture against Atletico Madrid away from the Spanish capital just eight days before it is due to take place has thrown the travel plans of thousands of Reds into chaos through no fault of their own.
But chatting to a pal, Mark, who is one of the many who have seen one of the footballing trips of a lifetime potentially disappear up in smoke, it is blindingly obvious that there is a potential way out of this mess that can also go some way towards mending some of the bridges between those hoovering up the obscene amounts of money floating around the game and the mugs who keep providing it, ie us, the fans.
UEFA spokesman William Gaillard has already alluded to the possibility of Liverpool fans on official charter trips being accommodated with free travel to wherever it is eventually decided that the game will be played.
Yet it needs to be recognised that this group constitutes only a small percentage of the ticket-holding Reds who will be travelling to Spain.
Whether through decades of experience journeying around the continent or just a Scouse spirit of adventure, many, many Liverpool supporters are loathe to pay through the nose to be herded around like cattle on official trips and prefer to make their own way to European games, with obscure routes and modes of travel worn almost as a badge of honour.
Only one offical charter plane is going to Madrid which means well over two thousand of the 2921 Reds with tickets for the match will not benefit from any potential UEFA transport largesse.
As a gesture of goodwill, surely it is not beyond the means of UEFA - who have already trousered £120,000 of fine money from Atletico Madrid - and Liverpool Football Club to ensure ticket-holding fans who can prove they have made travel arrangements for the game be bussed from Madrid to wherever it is actually played.
It cannot compensate for the loss of what would have been a great footballing occasion in one of the great European cities but it would at least serve as notice to so many who increasingly feel the game they love so much does not care about them that this is not the case.
Older/Newer
« UEFA move Liverpool FC's Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid | Liverpool fans would never sink so low as to boo their own players »
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: UEFA, LFC - The ball's in your court. TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.liverpoolbanter.co.uk/cgi-bin/mt421/mt-tb.cgi/36846
Absolutely spot on. It's the least UEFA can do after leaving us in limbo like this. The Dutch authorities provided a free train to take reds fans back to Amsterdam following both PSV games in 06-07, so it can be done. No Liverpool fan should have to fork out a single penny more to see this game.
This is the reason why Champions League should be run by clubs not by UEFA - Who needs UEFA anyway? they have no respect for the fans who are the sole reason the sports is triving.
i think that liverpool is the best team in the world like my coson jordon does as well.