Hear that... listen close... it's the wheels of UEFA's spin team desperately trying to divert attention from the incompetency of their organization by blaming fans. Yes, fans, you know their customers, the ones that cause them to exist. Let's take a look at what could possibly be the worse piece of spin that I have ever read and for those of you who are looking to make a career at a think tank or PR firm, here's a great example of what not to do.
First, present the report before you start making announcements about it. Where is this report? Sounds like Platini and Gaillard are trying to tell a fish tale before even going on a fishing trip. Let's see what these 25 offences are before making a huge 'it's not our fault' campaign. Wait a second, now Gaillard is saying that these incidents are mostly, in fact, 'small'. So, what are we talking about here? Jaywalking? Pick-pocketing? Policemen getting killed? (Well, not much difference if it's in Italy.)
Then you make ludicrous statements like 'Liverpool fans stole from children.' Now that's some class. Come on guys, you can do better than that. What about 'Hitler was a Liverpool fan'? That's always a good one. Or my favorite: 'Liverpool fans are descendants of Satan himself'. Rubbish. Sad, stupid, greedy men who care more about their egos than confronting the truth and trying to fix the problems of their organization. Well, then again, if they did that, they'd probably be out of jobs or maybe even in jail.
For UEFA to blame Liverpool fans, especially how they did so by having it sound like the whole fan base was guilty, is disgraceful and irresponsible. They are the ones who implemented an archaic ticket system that would make a four-year-olds' ballet recital look like a tour of Fort Knox. They are the ones that held the final in a stadium that had the security measure capabilities of a slum in Sao Paolo. They are the ones that limited the amount of seats in said stadium to begin with which cut down on the amount of tickets available. And finally, they are the ones that severely limited the amount of already limited tickets to the supporters of the teams so they could give blowjobs to Heineken executives.
Every club has their bad seeds (see Ultras, Headhunters, etc...), but to try to put off the blame on a whole fan base is ridiculous. To me it's as if they are trying to not only cover up their inability to organize and provide a safe and secure environment to watch a football match, but there's more to this story than just that. They are a corrupt institution more concerned with politics than sport, and don't have an ounce of credibility to stand by. And people wonder why an organization like the G-14 exists.