The Euro 2024 round 1 match between Georgia and Turkey (1-3) was very dynamic and truly exciting, with beautiful goals and uncompromising fighting. The events that accompanied this game were no less striking. Before the match in Dortmund there were clashes between fans and soon they clashed again, but in the stadium. Law enforcement officials admitted that it was impossible to prevent the clashes due to the lack of special barriers between the fan sections.
Foot supporters were also injured, as powerful jets of water fell from the roof during heavy rain before the match. Stadium workers reported that the drainage system on the stadium roof had not been modified for a long time and could therefore not withstand the load. Something similar happened recently at a home game for Manchester United and at their former stadium Old Trafford, but until now it was difficult to imagine such a thing in one of the modern German stadiums.
Waterfall in the Georgia – Türkiye match
Photo: Lars Baron/Getty Images
A blogger entered the stadium dressed as the Euro 2024 mascot
Germany is in a state of frenzy, with crowds of fans drowning in a sea of beer and singing their national team songs until they are hoarse. They are usually peaceful, but unpleasant incidents do occur. “Security at the European Championships is our top priority. We are armed against all conceivable dangers with the maximum support of law enforcement. 22,000 federal police officers are deployed daily to ensure the security of the tournament,” says Federal Interior Minister Nancy Feiser. “All this shows that we are very vigilant and well prepared. We also use mounted police officers so that in an emergency they can disperse rioting crowds.”
As beautiful and convincing as the minister’s voice may seem, security in Germany is still not going well. In addition to the skirmishes in Dortmund, the police were unable to prevent a joint British and Albanian attack on a bar with Serbs; It was fortunate that the president’s son and 20 special forces guarding him were there. On June 19, in Hamburg, police shot a man who threatened law enforcement officers with a pickaxe and a Molotov cocktail. In addition, police detained around 50 Italian fans in Dortmund.
And then there were problems:
The attack on Ronaldo forced UEFA to reinforce security at Euro 2024. Where was the security service?
Of course, during large international forums it is very difficult to completely suppress such demonstrations of a euphoric crowd, but several cases are clearly on the conscience of the security services. Not only were security guards unable to stop fans from running onto the pitch at several Euro 2024 matches, they were also helpless when a fan walked into Portugal training to take a photo with Cristiano Ronaldo.
The most outrageous incident occurred before the opening match of the European Championship in Munich. The famous video blogger (894 thousand subscribers) Marvin Wildhage decided to test the level of security at the tournament. He rented a car and, with the help of two accomplices, painted it with the logos of the sponsors of the German national team and the German Football Association (DFB). The pranksters also manually forged accreditations that did not arouse suspicion among the security guards. After entering the stadium, Wildhage put on a stuffed costume of Albert, the mascot of Euro 2024, bought on AliExpress, and showed it off among journalists, volunteers and police for half an hour. Just before the teams entered the field, an attentive employee drew attention to the suspicious “bear”.
The police arrested the blogger and his friends, but did not admit guilt and said that UEFA bears full responsibility. Although Marvin was banned from attending the tournament matches until their completion, he was pleased with himself: the number of subscribers on the channel increased noticeably: the video about the adventures in the stadium alone received 1.7 million views.
DDOS attack, cooperation between US and European intelligence agencies
In relation to this incident, we remember the disastrous final of the 2021/2022 Champions League in Paris, when the French authorities warned UEFA that the city’s 16th district (where the Parc des Princes stadium is located) was invaded by elements criminals. But the head of the European Football Union, Alexander Ceferin, has already promised PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi that the decisive match will be played in the French capital. As a result, the match between Liverpool and Real Madrid started half an hour late and a large crowd formed at the entrance to the stadium. UEFA blamed British fans for allegedly using counterfeit tickets.
An independent commission led by Professor Phil Scruton collected more than 480 testimonies from fans and journalists who attended the Champions League final. Scruton and his colleagues concluded that the event miraculously did not lead to stampedes and fan deaths. The commission’s report concluded that UEFA had committed a “terrible dereliction of duty” before apologizing to Liverpool and Real Madrid fans.
Screen showing the match between Poland and Holland.
Photo: x.com
It is very strange that after such blatant security lapses, Wildhage freely entered the opening ceremony of Euro 2024, and it is good that there was no suicide bomber in his place. The unauthorized entry of a blogger into the stadium is even more surprising in relation to the measures to improve the security of the tournament, announced with great fanfare by the German government. Germany has brought together 600 experts from across Europe working at the new International Police Cooperation Center (IPCC) in Neuss, in the west of the country. The main emphasis is on preventing possible attempts to cause harm not only by hooligans, but also by all types of terrorists and religious fanatics.
The skies around the matches are monitored by German army forces for drone attacks. Particular attention is paid to fan zones. “It has always been the case that if terrorists cannot get past the stadium security, they always have a secondary target. Fan zones are extremely easy targets. The IPCC also pays great attention to cyber security,” Gitta emphasised.
Fortunately, no one was hurt, but there have already been attempts at hacker attacks. Poles did not watch the first 10 minutes of their national team’s match against the Netherlands on June 16 – it turned out that Telewizja Polska, which broadcast the match, was the target of a DDOS attack.
How is Germany playing?
The first team is in the Euro playoffs! What a great team Germany has
The German national team forward did not wait for his train and traveled with schoolchildren
And yet, the main problem with Euro 2024 remains the terrible state of the logistics and transport system, which is not surprising, as around 300,000 fans came to the tournament. In fact, the high German standards of quality and comfort turned out to be too idealized, although they were one of Germany’s main assets in the fight for the right to host the Euro. At the tournament, everything is going wrong in terms of the possibility of reaching the desired point, both from one city to another and over shorter distances.
There were crazy crowds on the subway even in Munich, where dozens of international matches were held, where Bayern is based. In addition, fans have difficulty getting to their seats in the stadium: there are simply no clear instructions. The main problem has a name: Germany’s largest railway operator, Deutsche Bahn (DB). Even before Euro 2024, this company had trains that arrived late or did not arrive at all, but with the start of the tournament a real nightmare began.
Deutsche Bahn’s beautiful advertising image does not correspond to reality. Niklas Füllkrug won’t let you lie
Photo: Fake Images
In this sense, the story of the German striker Niklas Füllkrug is indicative. He wanted to take the DB from Hannover to Frankfurt, where the national team camp is located, but the train never arrived. As a result, the Borussia Dortmund player had to urgently travel in a common carriage with schoolchildren; None of them could have imagined that in this way they would spend time with a footballer who earns millions. In this situation, it is not surprising that in Germany the chances of being hired are drastically reduced if, during an interview, you indicate Deutsche Bahn on your resume as a way to get there.
A story about a problem with the metro during the Euro Cup:
Germany stood up. The main failure of the Euro Cup
The main reasons for the operator’s degradation are the constant growth of passenger traffic and the lack of necessary financing from the State. Due to low salaries, there is a staff shortage: there are not enough drivers and conductors, the infrastructure has long been in need of updating, and DB’s losses last year amounted to an incredible €2.4 billion. And the European Championship is unlikely. You can change anything for the better.
There are also problems with the fields:
European gardens are a mess. Footballers complain about the quality of the grass in several stadiums
