The Portuguese politician chairing Uefa’s review of the chaos at the Champions League final was criticised by supporters over his introduction of a controversial fan identity card aimed at tackling hooliganism. His department’s legal justification for the scheme included a reference to the Hillsborough disaster, which was also strongly criticised by supporters as “bad taste”.
The record of Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, who was Portugal’s minister of education responsible for introducing last season the “cartão do adepto”, a compulsory “fan card” vehemently opposed by supporters, has raised further questions about his suitability to lead a review Uefa has insisted will be independent.
Further doubts over the review’s independence are raised by the appointment to assist Rodrigues of Kenny Scott, Uefa’s head of safety and security until last year. After his retirement, Scott, a widely respected former Strathclyde police officer, has continued to work in paid roles for Uefa as a matchday security officer, including at the Nations League match between Sweden and Serbia as recently as 9 June. Uefa told the Guardian last month that another safety expert, Steve Frosdick, who resigned in February, was “unsuitable” for the independent review because he had worked previously for Uefa.
A key focus of the review, aside from the Paris riot police’s brutal conduct, will be Uefa’s planning and management of the final at the Stade de France on 28 May, including how Uefa came to blame Liverpool supporters for the chaos in two statements on the night, and why they have still not been retracted.
Rodrigues’s fan card became a requirement for people in parts of stadiums generally occupied by vocal, “ultra” supporters. Aimed at combatting violence in grounds and enabling fans to be more easily banned, the card was widely boycotted, leading to empty sections in grounds, and opposed in a crowdfunded legal action by Portugal’s national supporters’ association, the APDA. It was largely scrapped last November after a few months, after a parliamentary vote against it.
In its response to APDA’s legal action, the education ministry justified singling out particular areas of stadiums to require a fan card by referring to the Hillsborough disaster. The ministry’s legal document stated the wrong date for the 1989 disaster, saying: “Such isolation of zones is appropriate and necessary for security reasons, to prevent the occurrence of incidents arising from overcrowding (see the Hillsborough tragedy of 1986, where overcrowding in one stand led to the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans).”
Martha Gens, the APDA chair, said at the time it was “bad taste” to cite Hillsborough – where Liverpool supporters behaved well but 97 were killed because of police gross negligence – to justify a measure aimed at “sanction and repression” of football fans. She explained to the Guardian: “We found it revolting that the education ministry, which runs sports in Portugal, should refer to this disaster in its legal justification for a repressive policy. It showed that they did not have the necessary understanding of the relevant issues, and they introduced a measure based on discrimination and creating ghettos inside stadia.
“When Uefa announced Rodrigues as chair of the review, I couldn’t see how he was considered to have the expertise or independence, or the understanding of supporters, to take on such a role, especially as it nearly involved another disaster inflicted on Liverpool supporters.”
Uefa announced the review and appointed Rodrigues without consultation two days after the final, where thousands of Liverpool and Real Madrid supporters were held for hours in static queues, teargassed by French riot police and many were attacked by local thugs. Uefa publicly blamed “late arrival of fans” when delaying the kick-off, then issued a statement at the end of the game claiming the chaos was caused by thousands of Liverpool fans having fake tickets. That has caused deep offence to supporters, who are campaigning for a thorough, fully independent investigation.
Rodrigues previously worked closely in Portugal, including on the introduction of the fan card, with Tiago Craveiro, then chief executive of the Portuguese Football Federation, who in March this year moved to become an adviser to the Uefa president, Aleksandr Ceferin. To questions raised about Rodrigues’s independence and suitability, Uefa has said Rodrigues has appropriate expertise because he was the relevant minister when Portugal hosted the 2020 and 2021 Champions League finals that were relocated because of Covid. The first was played in an empty stadium; at the 2021 final between Chelsea and Manchester City, 16,500 fans were permitted to attend.
On 1 July Uefa announced that Scott and Frank Paauw, the Amsterdam police chief, would be “lead experts” on a panel with Rodrigues, described as an “independent group”. Five further experts and supporters’ representatives have been asked to “support the review”, although it is not clear how the process is planned to work.
Scott said that after he stepped down from his full-time position at Uefa last March, he was retained on Uefa’s list of security officers to work at individual matches, for which an allowance is paid. He worked at Hampden Park for three of the European Championship matches last year, including Scotland’s 2-0 defeat by the Czech Republic, and at the Sweden v Serbia match on 9 June this year.
Scott said he could not comment on any aspect of the review or its independence, given his appointment.
In response to questions about how Scott could be considered independent, Uefa pointed out that he had been recommended by Liverpool and Real Madrid. That is correct, although a Liverpool source said that Uefa had not informed the club that Scott had continued to do paid work for Uefa.
The Liverpool supporters’ trust Spirit of Shankly (SOS), was also not informed of Scott’s continued work for Uefa, but anyway had not recommended him for the review, due to his previous long-term senior position at Uefa until last year. Joe Blott, the SOS chairman, said: “Any retained links with Uefa are a clear cause for concern and throw into doubt the independence of the inquiry.
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“We are also extremely concerned to discover that Tiago Brandão Rodrigues was Portugal’s minister of education responsible for introducing the fan card. While fans in Portugal are best placed to understand the full implications, of utmost concern to us is that his government department referred to the Hillsborough tragedy in its justification for the scheme. This was insensitive and inappropriate.
“We urge Uefa to clarify the values and ethics of the inquiry, and how it can be considered independent.”
In response to detailed questions from the Guardian about the concerns surrounding the review, Rodrigues’s introduction of the fan card and Scott’s independence, Uefa said: “Mr Kenny Scott was proposed unprompted by both clubs and at no point did Uefa suggest his appointment. Uefa has already communicated its intention to not make any further comment on the indep¡endent review until it reaches its conclusion.” Rodrigues did not respond personally to the Guardian’s questions.
