Real Madrid-Legia Warsaw: Ceferin's UEFA too soft on ultras
No-one in Madrid can fathom how the violence involving Legia Warsaw ultras was allowed to occur. This is a club told to play its next home game behind closed doors - so it'll host Real Madrid in front of empty seats - but who had to be allocated tickets for the match at the Bernabéu. Even though that won't be reciprocated. Those tickets, about 4,000 in total (5% of the capacity) mainly went to well-behaved fans; yet a significant portion also ended up in the hands of hooligans responsible (among a host of other hoo-has) for the closure of their own ground. They'll be locked out when Real are in town, but were able to go to this game.
Police forces stretched by 400 thugs
There were about 400 of them, many with seriously imposing physiques. Well-trained troublemakers addicted to fighting. Complete and utter thugs. And, as revealed by radio station Cadena SER, quite a number of them are individuals known to the club, because they are part of its 'security' corps. That truly is chilling. They kept at bay a deployment of two thousand specialised police, who had to give it all they had to see them off; it was a close-run thing and they didn't come away without casualties, let's just say. Real have complained to UEFA. Why did they have to sell tickets to those hooligans - who aren't even allowed into their own ground?
Ceferin's UEFA in weak response
UEFA, the new UEFA of Aleksander Ceferin, has offered flimsy explanations. Oh, the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body is independent, you see... It's plain to anyone that if a team has to play a home fixture behind closed doors, it's only logical they should lose their tickets for the return. But Legia came with these hooligans in tow, who marred the memory of the evening. Europe's governing organisation cannot look the other way, nor is that in its tradition. In the past, it's managed drastic action on these matters; now, it's been soft on Legia's ultras. Ceferin prospered with votes from the East. I wonder if that has anything to do with it...