You are no longer football fans, you are no longer football supporters, you are no longer even football followers, you are accessories.
Accessories to the greed of the game’s authorities, accessories to the sickening commercialism of sport, accessories to a class system in a sport that was once the definition of equality. Walking past the hospitality areas inside the Stade de France - en route to witness people getting tear-gassed because they were asking why they could not get into a stadium with their sickeningly over-priced tickets - there was not a so-called VIP with a care in the world.
They knew the champagne would not run out and they knew the limos would be waiting. For UEFA and for FIFA, that is what is important: that the sponsorship money rolls in, that the TV money rolls in. That is why the World Cup is going to Qatar, don’t forget.
Even this close to football’s sacred tournament, its location is still hard to believe; impossible to believe. Although it should not be. They would probably do without the fans if they could, UEFA and FIFA. But they cannot because, whether they like it or not, the fans make the spectacle they are selling to the highest bidders. So, if they have to have them, why not rip them off by charging outrageous ticket prices and then skimp on proper policing and stewarding?
The blame for what happened outside - and in the environs of the Stade de France on Saturday night - can be laid at a selection of doors. There was brutally heavy-handed policing, indifference from stewards, entirely foreseeable logistical issues.
And while supporters were in no way accountable, a 9pm kick-off does not help. But then that is for the television dough. Never mind that: even if things ran smoothly, spectators would still have been getting back to their Paris hotels in the early hours of Sunday morning. That kick-off times are dictated solely by TV companies is now set in stone - there is no changing that.
Have Your Say! Does football need to re-evaluate its relationship with matchday fans? Join the debate here.
And regardless of the timings, from my own eye-witness evidence, the main culprits on Saturday night were the police and whoever thought it a good idea to funnel 20,000 Liverpool fans through a passage no wider than a cricket strip. The buck, though, has to stop with UEFA and they know it. That is why they came out with the initial, scandalous line that the problems were caused by fans - presumably, Liverpool fans - arriving late. Then, we had more bull about fake tickets being at the root of the issue.
Directly, UEFA might not have been to blame for the shocking, tear gas-stained scenes - but they set the tone for match-going supporters being treated shabbily by themselves making the fans an afterthought. UEFA - and, indeed, FIFA - do nothing, for example, to stop supporters getting royally ripped off for accommodation in host cities.
Instead, they join in the fun by limiting ticket allocations to proper fans while making sure those lucky enough to get one are charged top dollar. So, while they are conducting an investigation into what went so horribly wrong outside the Stade de France, they might want to conduct another one. Conduct another one into how fans are no longer fans... but accessories to be exploited.
