KYIV – Some 50,000 fans from every corner of the world made Ukraine’s capital their destination to watch Liverpool FC and Real Madrid play for top honors in Europe’s most prestigious soccer club tournament on May 26.
Four city blocks of the host city’s main thoroughfare, the Khreshchatyk, was transformed into a fan zone on May 24-27, complete with on-stage entertainment, exhibition five-on-five soccer matches, food and beverage venues, autograph sessions and chances to take pictures with the Champions League trophy.
While nearly 62,000 spectators attended the final match at the Olympic Stadium, an additional 15,000 spectators watched Real best Liverpool 3-1 outdoors at Kontraktova Ploshcha (square) in the historic Podil neighborhood in what was the final’s first public screening ever.
Andrew Kravchenko
Liverpool soccer club fans splash beer in the main fan zone along the Khreshchatyk on May 26, just hours before their team lost to 3-1 to Real Madrid for the Champions League title in Kyiv.
Europe’s chief soccer governing body, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), consisting of 55 member associations, organized the super-charged event with Ukrainian soccer great Andriy Shevchenko as the final match’s ambassador. He won the tournament in 2003 playing for AC Milan and is currently Ukraine’s national soccer team coach.
UEFA president Aleksander Cefrin praised Kyiv and Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko for the “excellent organization” after the tournament’s culmination.
Mark Raczkiewycz
The Champions League trophy is displayed in the fan zone along the Khreshchatyk in Kyiv on May 25 on the eve of the final match of the European soccer club tournament hosted by Ukraine.
“It should not be forgotten that this is the largest sport event of a global level that is not easy to organize,” he said. “Yesterday, and in previous days, there was not a single mistake. Thank you for your hospitality, I am convinced that at least half of the fans will return to Kyiv again.”
Drama and violence did accompany the event.
Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius committed what appeared to be two elementary mistakes in front of the net that led to the final score’s two-goal margin. He “infinitely” apologized on Twitter afterwards, and many of his teammates defended him, saying that the club wins and loses together as a unit.
A group of masked men left two Liverpool fans hospitalized after attacking them on the night of May 24-25 at the Rooster pub near the Olympic Stadium. The group calls itself “Troublemakers” and posted videos of the incident on its Facebook page. It claims to be composed of supporters of the defunct Kyiv CSKA soccer club, an eponymous name of a Moscow team. The so-called “ultras” fan group “warned” that the incident was only “practice” regarding the fate of English fans who will attend the World Cup that Russia will host for a month starting on June 14.
Mark Raczkiewycz
A Ukrainian marching band performs on the Khreshchatyk inside the fan zone on May 25 on the eve of the Champions League final match between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
Official Liverpool fan clubs condemned the attack on social media, while referring to a larger-scale onslaught involving Russian nationals against England supporters during the 2016 European soccer championship held in France.
Kyiv authorities said that 10,000 law enforcement personnel provided security during the four-day soccer festival and that 18 more individuals “who provoked fights with fans” were detained after the final match.
A testament to the large international following of the Spanish and English clubs was the diverse group of fans that The Ukrainian Weekly met. Liverpool alone has a total fan base of 85 million on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And it sold 805,000 shirts in 2016.
Mark Raczkiewycz
A giant replica of the Champions League trophy stands on St. Sophia Square in Kyiv on May 25 on the eve of the title match between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
Real fans from Africa and Mexico were on hand, and dedicated followers of Liverpool had made the trek from Thailand and Australia. It was difficult finding natives of Liverpool or Anfield.
Yod Chin of Thailand said he started following Liverpool in 1996 when the team played Manchester United and he was 10 years old.
“Liverpool lost, so because I love the underdog, I started to love Liverpool,” he said, noting that the last time his favorite club won the Champions League was 13 years ago.
Marlon Mindel of Melbourne brought his 20- and 13-year-old sons with him.
He and Mr. Chin both have to wake up between 2 and 4 a.m. to watch Liverpool in their time zones.
“But I’ve been doing that since I was a kid. I’ve been always passionate,” the Aussie told The Ukrainian Weekly, adding that he also has flown several time zones with his sons to England to watch Liverpool play. “I call it being fanatical… It grows on you. It’s a once-in-a-decade event for Liverpool.”
Liverpool native David Thompson said his first impressions were “fantastic: the people are really nice, they’re friendly, everyone is really happy – it’s brilliant.”
Price gouging for airfare and accommodations was prevalent.
Mr. Chin said that his three-day trip cost $5,000, while Mr. Mindel said he paid $2,800 for his.
Two-star hotel rooms on booking.com were running at $2,800 a night whereas they usually cost $51. Rates for apartment rentals had skyrocketed by 100 times on online broker Airbnb as well.
As a result, Kyiv resident Viktor Kylymar started the “free couch for football fans” on Facebook. Fans were offered free accommodations with hundreds of apartments being made graciously available gratis.
Still, on May 25-26 Kyiv’s Boryspil airport took in and sent off 77 additional charter and 73 private planes, according to airport spokesperson Tatyana Yarosh. Excluding regular routes, those figures represented an increase of 22 percent.
Part of the reason why the Champions League is the world’s most prestigious soccer club tournament is the amount of money qualifying teams make.
Aside from competing in domestic league championships, top-tier clubs gun for the Champions League where more than 1.3 billion euros will be distributed this season – the most in history. Real, this year’s winner can expect to make between 54 million and 57 million euros of “fixed money,” according to UEFA, and also receive part of the “market pool” money that is distributed among teams from television income.