The UEFA European Football Championship (Euro) 2024 has been fraught with incidents large and small. A fan attempted to trip Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, and the deployment of medical staff was delayed, stirring up controversy.
On the 27th (Korean time), Ronaldo narrowly avoided a tripping attempt by a fan who had invaded the pitch after Portugal lost 0-2 to Georgia in the third match of Group F at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The fan failed to trip Ronaldo, but the incident could have led to a serious accident.
The Sun reported on the 28th, “It’s an important time to be alarmed about safety accidents. Although it seems that the fan intended to express enthusiasm towards Ronaldo rather than trip him, it could have resulted in a serious injury.”
The media outlet added, “It’s unimaginable for a fan to come out of the stands and attack a player. There shouldn’t be more accidents for this tournament not to turn into a disaster.”
There was also a hair-raising incident directed at the families of the players. After England’s lackluster 0-0 draw with Slovenia on the 26th, some fans threw beer cups at the family of England’s Ezri Konsa. Some of the beer cups even landed right in front of coach Gareth Southgate. The lackadaisical medical responses from the on-site medical team also came under fire.
During the match between Hungary and Scotland on the 24th, Barnabas Bese suffered a severe head injury and collapsed while competing for an aerial ball. The slow response from the medical team and security staff sparked anger among the Hungarian players and fans. Some players even ran with stretchers due to the frustrating delay.
Audience intrusion is also a problem. Although audience intrusions are not a new issue in high-profile international tournaments, there were as many as five incidents during the match between Portugal and Turkey alone. Players and coaches openly expressed their discontent, saying that it is hard to concentrate on the game because of the intruding fans.
BBC Sports commentator Ian Dennis criticized the lax security at the tournament, warning, “The organizers of the tournament should be prepared to receive criticism for lax security. If such incidents recur in more important matches such as the semi-finals and finals, it will be dreadful.”