Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe is to push for controls on alcohol at major events after the disturbances at the UEFA Cup final in Manchester.A report into the final has recommended controls after violence erupted involving drunken Rangers fans inside one of the zones went a giant screen broke wn.
Supporters were able to carry as much alcohol as they wanted into the fan zones - in contrast to the 2006 World Cup in Germany where fans were not allowed to take in drink but could buy beer from bars inside.
England is bidding for the 2018 World Cup, while Wembley is likely to be chosen to host the 2011 Champions League final, and both events are likely to have fans zones associated with them.
Sutcliffe said: "We are particularly interested in the points raised about controlling alcohol in fan zones. We will take that away and look at it with the Home Office.
"I think it is entirely sensible to have some controls.
"We want to attract major sporting events to this country and to police the events properly.
"Fan zones are here to stay - it seems supporters without tickets still want to be in the same city as an event is taking place so we are likely to see more of it in the future."
Sutcliffe said his own exrience in Manchester, where 130,000 Rangers fans descended on the city ahead of the final against Zenit St Petersburg, had convinced him of the need for controls.
Apart from the violence, the city centre resembled a huge rubbish dump the following morning.
He added: "I arrived in Manchester for the UEFA Cup final at 5pm and saw people walking around carrying crates of beer, clearly the worse for wear.
"I also saw the aftermath the following day which was diabolical - people should not have to put up with that."
A Manchester City Council report published yesterday into the event on May 14 revealed problems began in the morning of the game.
It also detailed how acts on a fan zone stage were struck by missiles, fans urinated in the street and frightened staff were forced to flee from a merchandise stall.
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Comment 1 - 2 of 2
I have to take issue with some of the implications of the very last sentence of this article.
Certainly, there were a few items thrown at the acts, but NO MORE than you'd find at Glastonbury or the like.
Fans urinated in the street ... because there was nowhere else to do so.
As foer frightened staff fleeing from a merchandise stall -- there have been numerous reports dating as far back as the day itself indicating that some staff actually gave the merchandise away free.
A lot of the emphasis on blame has to come down upon the analysis of the make-up of the troublemakers. Were they ALL Rangers fans ? Were there no NON-RANGERS FANS in Manchester that day ?
btw, section 13.4 of the actual Report again blandly parrots the line about the "stabbing" of a Zenit fan. This was NOT a stabbing, and there is NO evidence to suggest that any real injury actually occurred to that fan.
Still, it does make salacious copy. And at least this article doesn't quote that particular falsehood amongst the others.
I was in Manchester for the game and the City Council should shoulder most of the blame for any trouble that may have occured it was not prepared for the amount of people in the city centre, no toilet facilities, no refuse bins, no proper traffic control and no signing to the various locations.
As for Mr Sutcliffe,s comments regarding alcohol all the fans did was buy from shopkeepers wiling to sell (some at inflated prices).
The authorities were aware of the numbers that were to arrive in the city and they were not prepared or were not willng to provide services.
From my personal experiences I felt no animosity from the people of Manchester and as we left the city several apologised for the reaction of the coucil and the police for the comments made by them after the game.
If England were to win bid to stage the world cup in 2018 I would advise the authorities in Manchester to look at themselves rather than blame the fans.
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