UEFA must find answers to address multiple factors behind shocking football scenes: Alan Pattullo

When they struggle to provide water for those in attendance, it is easy to take the view that UEFA need to up their game when it comes to staging major events.

That was the Europa League final between Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt almost a fortnight ago. The disorganisation evident at the Champions League final in Paris on Saturday night took things to a whole new level and underlined how the mistreatment of fans is becoming a significant issue. Where will it end?

It wasn’t UEFA pepper spraying fans in the eyes, of course. It wasn’t them who were battering them over heads as they tried to negotiate the tight access areas. The heavy-handedness of police is also concerning.

Much was written about crowd disorder, and the reasons for the seeming increasing regularity and scale of it, in the aftermath of last summer’s Euro 2020 final between England and Italy at Wembley. Clips of ticketless fans evading stewards went viral. There was even significant focus placed on the undeniable rise of cocaine consumption by football supporters.

It’s unrealistic to claim there are not multiple factors behind the recent worrying scenes as well as the hard-to-ignore rise in pitch invasions. When players and backroom staff are being assaulted on what should be a patch of sacrosanct turf something has gone wrong with supporter control.

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Fortunately, that particular problem has not reared its head in a significant way in Scotland since the 2016 Scottish Cup final, when Hibs fans spilled onto the track and pitch at Hampden to greet their historic win over Rangers. “Over exuberance,” was the term memorably employed by then Hibs chairman, Rod Petrie. That description became the subject of