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| Uefa’s Michel Platini calls for action on extremism and hooliganism | Uefa’s Michel Platini calls for action on extremism and hooliganism |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Uefa president Michel Platini has warned of the dangers of a rising tide of nationalism across Europe and a return to the hooliganism of the 1980s inside football stadiums. | The Uefa president Michel Platini has warned of the dangers of a rising tide of nationalism across Europe and a return to the hooliganism of the 1980s inside football stadiums. |
| The former French international recalled his own experiences at Heysel almost 30 years ago and said he feared the “dark days of the not-so-distant past” were in danger of returning. | The former French international recalled his own experiences at Heysel almost 30 years ago and said he feared the “dark days of the not-so-distant past” were in danger of returning. |
| Platini was playing for Juventus at the European Cup final in Brussels in 1985 when 39 people, mainly Italian, died after a wall collapsed amid rioting that led to English teams being banned from Europe. | Platini was playing for Juventus at the European Cup final in Brussels in 1985 when 39 people, mainly Italian, died after a wall collapsed amid rioting that led to English teams being banned from Europe. |
| “In recent months, we have all been struck by certain images that I thought were a thing of the past. Some of us experienced that past at first hand. In my case, it was exactly 30 years ago … nobody wants a repeat of such events,” said Platini, who is standing unopposed for a third term as president at Uefa’s Congress in Vienna. | |
| “We need tougher stadium bans at European level and – I will say it again – the creation of a European sports police force.” | “We need tougher stadium bans at European level and – I will say it again – the creation of a European sports police force.” |
| Platini has been calling for the creation of a European police force since he became president in 2007 and renewed his plea for more help from public authorities in tackling problems inside and outside stadiums. | Platini has been calling for the creation of a European police force since he became president in 2007 and renewed his plea for more help from public authorities in tackling problems inside and outside stadiums. |
| “In these battles that we are fighting, we feel as if we have been left to fend for ourselves somewhat. And yet, these are battles that can only be won with the help of the public authorities. You are not, we are not legislators, judges or police officers. We do what we can with the means – the limited means – available to us,” he said. | “In these battles that we are fighting, we feel as if we have been left to fend for ourselves somewhat. And yet, these are battles that can only be won with the help of the public authorities. You are not, we are not legislators, judges or police officers. We do what we can with the means – the limited means – available to us,” he said. |
| “I therefore renew my call for greater awareness of this issue among the public authorities, so that we can avoid reliving the dark days of a not-so-distant past, a past where hooligans and all manner of fanatics called the shots in certain European stadiums.” | “I therefore renew my call for greater awareness of this issue among the public authorities, so that we can avoid reliving the dark days of a not-so-distant past, a past where hooligans and all manner of fanatics called the shots in certain European stadiums.” |
| Platini said that football was a reflected wider society and that a worrying rise in nationalism and extremism across the continent was being reflected inside football grounds. | Platini said that football was a reflected wider society and that a worrying rise in nationalism and extremism across the continent was being reflected inside football grounds. |
| “Europe is seeing a rise in nationalism and extremism the like of which we have not witnessed for a very long time,” said Platini. | “Europe is seeing a rise in nationalism and extremism the like of which we have not witnessed for a very long time,” said Platini. |
| “This insidious trend can also be observed in our stadiums, as football is a reflection of society. Given its popularity, our sport is a barometer for the ills of our continent. And that barometer is pointing to some worrying developments,” he added. | “This insidious trend can also be observed in our stadiums, as football is a reflection of society. Given its popularity, our sport is a barometer for the ills of our continent. And that barometer is pointing to some worrying developments,” he added. |
| Platini, a one-time ally of Sepp Blatter who has latterly turned his back on the 79-year-old and called for a change at the top of world football’s governing body, obliquely criticised the longstanding Fifa president. | |
| Blatter has repeatedly described himself as the “captain” of the Fifa ship and four years ago, in a speech in which he promised his current term would be his last, said he was “captain of the ship in troubled waters bringing it back on the right route”. | |
| Thanking delegates from 54 Uefa member countries for re-electing him unopposed for another four years, Platini said: “I regard myself as a simple team-mate – at most your captain. But not the captain of a ship that is being battered by a storm.” | |
| In the printed version of his speech, Platini had gone further in criticising Blatter, adding the words “clinging to the helm for dear life”. But he omitted the phrase when speaking in the hall. | |
| Instead, he ran through his achievements as Uefa president – the expansion of Euro 2016 to 24 teams, the creation of the Nations League, the centralisation of media and marketing rights and his idea for a pan-continental Euro 2020 – and thanked delegates for handing him the “armband” as “captain of a winning team” for another four years. | |
| In his speech to the Congress on Tuesday, Blatter made no reference to standing again for Fifa president but once again urged football to resist calls to boycott to the 2018 World Cup in Russia because of its involvement in the civil war in Ukraine. | |
| Blatter attended the Uefa Congress in his role as Fifa president, coming face to face with his three rivals in May’s election: the Dutch FA president Michael van Praag, the Jordanian Fifa vice-president Prince Ali bin al-Hussein and the Portuguese former world footballer of the year Luis Figo. All three are being backed by Uefa. | |
| Blatter said: “Football shall be united, sport shall be united when it comes to boycotts because boycott has never given any results. We have to pay attention to political interferences. The autonomy of sport must be guaranteed.” | |
| After attracting derision for last week appearing to suggest that football could bring peace to the Crimea through the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Blatter returned to the subject in an otherwise low-key address. | |
| “Football is a symbol of unity. I am convinced that more than ever the hope of mankind rests not only on the slogans of Fifa but also on peace and solidarity,” he said. | |
| “Maybe we cannot change the world but at least we can help change the world and help in certain conflict situations.” |