FOR many fans European nights are the dream, but for many years fan safety has been neglected and for the most part this issue has been covered up.
Ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League game in Naples, three Chelsea fans were attacked in a stabbing attack by a group of roughly 20 Napoli fans. Two of those supporters were hospitalised after that attack, with Chelsea’s Supporters Trust warning that fans should “exercise caution in Naples”.
In the 2022 Champions League final in Paris, Liverpool fans were pepper sprayed and tear gassed by the police for alleged disorder. Initially UEFA and the police put the blame firmly on the Liverpool supporters, however in 2025 a UEFA report determined that it was not the Liverpool faithful who were responsible for the chaos.
Fan safety has also become an issue in England. Man City played Galatasaray in the Champions League, with thousands of away supporters getting tickets in the home end. A frustrated Man City home fan reported this issue to stewards only for the stewards to allegedly assault the fan before removing him from the stadium. In a now deleted viral twitter post by Bex Weir, it was alleged that man city stewards “aggressively assaulted” the fan.
So the real question is, what is being done to help safeguard football fans at European games?
UEFA in recent years have been implementing changes since the 2022 Champions League final incident, stronger integrated operational planning and increased safety and security deployment at their finals. UEFA have also partnered with Football Supporters Europe (FSE), local police, and governments to help develop and implement safety strategies.
Recently UEFA has stated “for the first time in the past decade, UEFA has recorded a measurable decline in the proportion of matches affected by incidents” but recent events put this claim into disrepute.
