According to Sky Sports and Daily Mail, UEFA (European Football Federation), the organizer of EURO 2024, has requested that host country Germany increase security forces on the field during each match. This decision comes in response to an incident where six enthusiastic fans ran onto the field to approach Cristiano Ronaldo during the Group F match between Portugal and Türkiye.
“The safety of players and fans in the stadium, as well as the security of the team venues, are the top priorities of the European Football Federation and the German Football Association,” UEFA stated. “Security measures will be reinforced in stadiums to prevent incidents like the one in the Portugal match.”
Ronaldo is constantly harassed while playing.
“Anyone who enters the field during the match will be expelled from the stadium, banned from participating in all remaining matches of Euro 2024 or even criminally prosecuted,” UEFA added.
During the match against Türkiye, a boy ran onto the field and was lucky enough to take a photo with Ronaldo. This action led to a series of “thefts” by other enthusiastic fans. Five more adults approached the Portuguese captain during and after the match. Some young people even grabbed Ronaldo’s shoulders, which made Ronaldo feel uncomfortable.
Although the fans’ motives were pure, coach Roberto Martínez had to speak up to defend his students: “That is a real concern. Today we were lucky that the fans only wanted to see Ronaldo. But that is not the case there.” “There is no guarantee that in the future there will be people with bad intentions running onto the field. At that time, the players will be in danger.”
“Running onto the field is not a way to express admiration for a player. We request stricter security measures,” added the Portugal coach.
The victory over Türkiye helped Portugal book a place in the EURO round of 16 a game early. On June 27 at 2:00 a.m. the “Seleccao” will play the preliminary match against Georgia.
