Uefa has defended the choice of its two most senior executives to leave Paris the morning after the Champions League final deteriorated into misery and turmoil in order to attend the EFL Championship playoff final at Wembley.
Theodore Theodoridis, Uefa’s general secretary (equivalent to CEO), and Giorgio Marchetti, his deputy, were guests of the EFL during the championship match between Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield. Theodoridis and Marchetti were seated in the dignitaries’ section at Wembley, following the scenes in Paris where thousands of supporters were held in agonisingly long lines and many were teargassed by French police and severely beaten by local thugs near the Stade de France.
Uefa declared on Monday, 30 May, two days later, that it had established a “independent review” into the errors in Paris and appointed a Portuguese politician, Dr. Tiago Brando Rodrigues, to lead it. Liverpool and its supporters questioned the integrity and independence of the review and of Rodrigues, as well as the rigour of Uefa’s protocols, and the fact that Uefa’s two most senior officials were present at Wembley on Sunday afternoon has heightened opposition to the decision. Uefa has stated that Theodoridis was able to dedicate his full attention to Uefa’s response, including phone conversations and video conferences, from London.
The Champions League final was delayed by 36 minutes and did not conclude until close to midnight on Saturday, May 28, after which Liverpool and Real Madrid fans were violently attacked on their way out of the stadium in the early hours of Sunday morning. Six days later, on Thursday, June 2, Theodoridis admitted in an internal email to Uefa employees that the events outside the stadium were horrifying, frightening, distressing, and startling, and apologised for them. The next day, Uefa apologised officially to fans.
Theodoridis and Marchetti boarded a midday train from Paris to London on Sunday, 31 May, as Uefa personnel and thousands of fans awoke to a growing international scandal. Theodoridis and Marchetti were scheduled to spend four days in London. Theodoridis, who supports Olympiakos, sat at Wembley behind Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, who also owns the Athens club, leading some onlookers to believe he attended the match as Marinakis’ guest.
However, Uefa has claimed that Theodoridis determined three weeks prior that it would be a good idea to attend because Uefa was co-organizing the “Finalissima” match between Italy and Argentina at Wembley Stadium on 1 June. Theodoridis requested tickets to the Championship playoff final from the English Football Association on 11 May, which was before Forest won the semi-final on 17 May, hence he was not Marinakis’ guest.
The spokesman stated that Theodoridis was in “constant contact” with key Uefa personnel from London and was able to work during his trip on the Paris response and Finalissima match organisation.
“Prior to their departure to London, they met with various members of Uefa’s top management to discuss the events of the previous evening and to initiate conversations over the next actions to be taken,” the statement explained.
“It is typical for Mr. Theodoridis to attend games while travelling, as it allows him to meet with a variety of stakeholders.”
Ian Byrne, MP for Liverpool and board member of the supporters’ trust Spirit of Shankly, stated that his belief that the procedure to establish the review and appoint the chairman was inadequate was reinforced by his increased knowledge of Uefa’s decision-making.
Byrne stated, “You must examine their priorities.” “Thousands of supporters were horribly harmed in Paris, and we narrowly averted another catastrophe that resulted in loss of life.” You would have expected that Uefa’s top executives would have stayed in Paris to investigate what went wrong and not travelled to Wembley the next day to witness an unrelated match. It makes me wonder the rigour with which the review was established.”
The Uefa spokesperson insisted that the work was still rigorous, stating, “The follow-up of the events in Paris dominated the agenda of the days in London and led to the completion of immediately required steps such as reviewing initial internal reports, appointing the chairman of the independent review, and making all arrangements necessary for the review to begin without delay.”
