The return to standing room at European Cup matches is a huge achievement for all football fans from the supporter associations’ point of view.
For years, the associations had fought for it, as Helen Breit, chairwoman of the “Our Curve” fan association, told the German Press Agency. “This shows that even if it’s really difficult, it’s worth sticking with such important and essential fan-political demands for many years and not giving up.”
This week, the Executive Committee of European Football Union UEFA granted standing room permits to Germany, France and England for the 2022/23 season. “As different as the fans may be, standing room was always one of the most important issues,” said Martin Endemann from the “Football Supporters Europe” fan alliance. A campaign entitled “Europe Wants To Stand” was initiated. In addition, the topic was raised again and again in discussions with UEFA.
Fans in the three countries will be able to watch Champions League, Europa League and Conference League matches “in accordance with national and local legislation”, UEFA said. This step is a huge win for the atmosphere in the stadiums as well as financially for the clubs, said Endemann. Because the clubs can sometimes drastically increase their spectator capacity. In Dortmund, for example, capacity has increased by more than 15,000 from 66,099 to 81,365.
Endemann is convinced that UEFA’s decision will not cause more fan riots. The standing room was not responsible for the many riots in the French stadiums in the previous season. The clubs are hoping that the testing phase will soon be extended to allow standing room at all European competitions. (dpa)