Champions League 2013/2014

[Flavia]

My guess for the next round:

Group A: Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Sociedad

Group B: Real Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray, FC Copenhagen

Group C: Benfica, Paris St-Germain, Olympiakos, Anderlecht

Group D: Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City, Viktoria Plzen

Group E: Chelsea, Schalke, FC Basel, Steaua Bucharest

Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli

Group G: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg, Austria Vienna

Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax, Celtic

 

[ccesc]

Group E is like a group in Europe League.
Typical luck for Schalke. They avoided Charkiw in CL quali, played instead two pathetic games against PAOK and are now in a group with Basel and Bucharest...

 

[BarcAjax]

I always wonder Ajax and Barca match. This is my dream Same football philosophy but Ajax play lower and younger players. I wonder how Ajax will play and create passing organization.

 

[Dan1983]

Milan again? Can't keep away from them. Nice to know we'll have a loud noisy away game at Celtic again. Looking forward to the games with Ajax.

 

[AnfieldEd]

Napoli 40/1 to win CL. Put a few quid on that.........

 

[XaviMessiGirl]

FC Copenhagen fans with non-Danish sounding names had their Champions League tickets cancelled because of the club's security policy, a Danish newspaper has reported.

Joy turned to anger for fans who purchased three-match packages - for the Group B home ties against Real Madrid, Juventus and Galatasary - but then received emails stating their tickets had been cancelled "for security reasons."

"This is the most degrading thing I have ever experienced," Copenhagen fan Masoud Barid told Danish newspaper Ekstrabladet.

"I have no relationship to any of the three teams Copenhagen are due to play. I just want to go in and support my team."

The Danish champions have encouraged fans whose ticket purchases were cancelled to contact them directly.

"Safety is always our main concern when it comes to events at Parken (stadium). Therefore we make every effort to ensure that fans of our guests only have access to the away section," FC Copenhagen club secretary Daniel Rommedahl said.

"If a dialogue with the customer shows otherwise, the purchase will be approved.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused but it's a necessary action in relation to the matches and UEFA's rules and Parken's security procedures."

Source


How is this not blatant discrimination?

 

[Cule4life]

FC Copenhagen fans with non-Danish sounding names had their Champions League tickets cancelled because of the club's security policy, a Danish newspaper has reported.

Joy turned to anger for fans who purchased three-match packages - for the Group B home ties against Real Madrid, Juventus and Galatasary - but then received emails stating their tickets had been cancelled "for security reasons."

"This is the most degrading thing I have ever experienced," Copenhagen fan Masoud Barid told Danish newspaper Ekstrabladet.

"I have no relationship to any of the three teams Copenhagen are due to play. I just want to go in and support my team."

The Danish champions have encouraged fans whose ticket purchases were cancelled to contact them directly.

"Safety is always our main concern when it comes to events at Parken (stadium). Therefore we make every effort to ensure that fans of our guests only have access to the away section," FC Copenhagen club secretary Daniel Rommedahl said.

"If a dialogue with the customer shows otherwise, the purchase will be approved.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused but it's a necessary action in relation to the matches and UEFA's rules and Parken's security procedures."

Source


How is this not blatant discrimination?

Paranoia is the more appropriate word here

 

[Galning]

I think they are pulling the 'racist' card a bit too early, something which happens a lot nowadays. I think they just want to double check that they aren't Galatasaray fans, which is understandable imo. It's not like they're denying access to the stadium because they have a non Danish sounding name.
It's UEFA rules that the away team supporters have their own section and they're just double checking.

 

[XaviMessiGirl]

I think they are pulling the 'racist' card a bit too early, something which happens a lot nowadays. I think they just want to double check that they aren't Galatasaray fans, which is understandable imo. It's not like they're denying access to the stadium because they have a non Danish sounding name.
It's UEFA rules that the away team supporters have their own section and they're just double checking.

How is that understandable? So someone who has lived in Denmark their whole life & is a supporter of their local club, but isn't of Danish descent, can't go to the stadium unless they sit in the away section? Putting local fans in with traveling fans might actually make violence worse since they WOULDN'T be separated & then that would be their fault. With all the strict rules in general regarding keeping track of fans these days, couldn't they at least do some checking to see things like have they attended a Copenhagen game before, whether they have a record of hooliganism, etc.

Even if you take potential racism out of it, at the least it's stupid & like someone said above, paranoid. How come no other club feels the need to go this far?

 

[Galning]

No you're not getting their point. They allow the local fans that aren't of Danish descent to sit with their own fans (= Kopenhagen) they just want to make sure that they are indeed Danish and not Turkish supporters trying to buy tickets via the Danish club.

 

[XaviMessiGirl]

One of the other articles I read on this interviewed someone of Iranian descent who had lived in Copenhagen his entire life. How is that justified?

btw - found out a guy I know (massive Juve fan) bought tickets & didn't have them canceled. And his surname is Sanfilippo - blatantly Italian. So it seems like they are only going after people with certain sounding names. Is it only to keep out potential Gala fans, but they're not actually specifying this? Why would they think a Gala fan would attend the other two matches as well?

 

[Galning]

I don't know, the only thing that I think though is that Kopenhagen won't deny fans simply because they have "weird sounding" surnames. I mean seriously... Denmark of all countries? They are probably just making sure that away fans buy their tickets through their own fans, which is what that Rommedahl guy said according to the article.
They are just double checking, it's not like they're denying access people to the stadium based on their last names. In this day and age they don't know if Özturk, Filipo & Rodriguez are born and raised in Denmark or in Turkey, Italy or Spain. Does it sucks for the local fans who have to wait a few days to get their tickets validated? Yes, I'm sure. Is it racist or discriminating? I don't think so.
If there'd be away fans all over the stadium I'm sure people would complain about it as well. And yeah, occasionally there will be an away fan sitting with the home fans.. just like in every CL game (like your friend).

I think these articles are just fancy news. We all know how people in Western countries love to talk about discimination and racism. Why on earth would the biggest football club of Denmark, based in a multicultural city, deny people of different origin access to their stadium? It's not like these measurements are taken when they play in the Danish league. It's just extra security for the CL.
As said, yeah it sucks for them. But they'll be able to go to the game anyway.

 

[XaviMessiGirl]

Ah, apparently in the past Gala fans specifically have caused trouble in the country? I didn't know this. Still, the way they went about it seems wrong. And seems weird if this is the reason that they would cancel people who bought tickets for all the matches.

 

[JackaL]

In the Uefa final in 2000, Arsenal and Gala fans fought each other, causing damage in the city. However, they probably would't set same rules for English. I support security, however, even if it is not racism, there's kind of a subtle way of saying, we don't want these type of people here, and generelizing everything. I've been to Manu vs. Gala, sitting with Manu fans to watch the game, nothing happened. Additionaly, for a European Gala fan it is almost impossible to buy away tickets to watch the game, because they are sold trough an agency in Turkey which sells them only with tickets and hotels etc. S pretty fucked up for a born Copenhagen local who is of Turkish origin, isn't it?

Edit: if you read the comments on the source page, one has a pretty good explanation. The article is not well researched it seems from there.

 

[darthvader7888]

Our group isn't ultra tough on paper, but the fact that Celtic (albeit with luck) and Milan beat us last season does worry me.