WHEN it comes to washing your hands of responsibility, Pontius Pilate had nothing on Uefa. European football's governing body was today busily covering its tracks after trouble broke out at Wednesday's Champions League final in Athens. But their excuses just won't wash, not when the evidence against them is so compelling. Critically, Uefa decided to hold the biggest and most important match in European football in a stadium which, by their own admission, was not built for such an occasion. How they could select a venue with no turnstiles and few toilet facilities is beyond the comprehension of Liverpool and Milan fans, and the British authorities, whose advice was not heeded as it should have been. On the flight back to the UK yesterday afternoon, members of Merseyside police's football unit, who had stood powerless as trouble flared outside the ground prior to kick-off, were keeping their counsel. They were duty-bound not to speak out, but the bewilderment on their faces betrayed what they were thinking – it had been a shambles of almost criminal proportions. From the moment the ticket allocations for the final were announced, there was scarcely a single Liverpool fan who did not anticipate problems in Athens. The basic principles of supply and demand should have been the key determinant when it came to deciding how many tickets each finalists should receive. But Uefa's commitment to the corporate ideal meant this was never likely to happen and 40,000 Liverpool fans were left scrambling to get their hands on only 17,000 tickets. It was this, coupled with the poor stadium facilities and a police force notorious throughout Europe for its baton-wielding antics, which made the scenes which took place on the forecourt of the Olympic stadium pretty much inevitable. Of course, those fans who gained entry into the ground using forged tickets at the expense of genuine ticket holders left locked outside must take their share of the blame. But the harsh reality is forged tickets are nothing new at major football matches, particularly when the real thing is so difficult to get hold of, and it is extremely rare for police and security staff to fail to deal with them. On Wednesday night the Greek police failed spectacularly. You only had to take a look at the Liverpool end behind the goal to realise that. There were literally thousands more fans in that area than it was supposed to hold. One seasoned observer at pitch-side said it looked like the old Anfield Kop, such was the seething mass of swaying humanity in a stand where people should have been sitting in comfort. An estimated 45,000 Liverpool fans were in Athens and it was clear very early on that the vast majority would be travelling to the Olympic stadium whether they had a valid ticket or not. For those without tickets, this meant defying police advice. But for many fans, past experiences at European finals in places like Istanbul has taught them that it is often easy to buy tickets from touts at the stadium, particularly as kick-off approaches. Again, the root of this problem lies at Uefa's door. The bulk of the tickets being sold by touts are for the neutral areas of the ground, meaning they are most likely to have been bought originally in the Uefa ballot months before the final. Touts try to get their hands on as many tickets as they can in the knowledge they can fleece genuine supporters should a club with a huge international fan base, like Liverpool or Manchester United, reach the final. In this respect, Uefa have created a touts charter. How can a situation in which ordinary fans with genuine tickets are greeted by riot police armed with guns and batons be tolerated in a civilised society? Those of us making our way into the ground felt like we were running the gauntlet. Four checkpoints were set up, each manned by riot police. Fans were asked to present their tickets at each one in order to gain entry into the stadium, but at the first two checkpoints I showed only the back of my ticket and was waved through. It was tempting to believe that any piece of blue card resembling a ticket would have been enough to get past. There were security staff whose job it was to scan all tickets with an ultra violet light to root out forgeries. But this was easily avoided by simply walking down the middle of the gangway. At the third checkpoint, Greek police created a bottleneck by parking a coach right in front of the access point, leading to safety fears as more and more fans arrived with nowhere to go. Eventually, the process was speeded up and we managed to get through to the fourth and final checkpoint before entering the ground. At this stage, there was an hour to go before kick-off and already the Liverpool end was jam-packed. Our immediate suspicions that the stand's capacity had been breached were confirmed when a Tannoy announcement was relayed to those outside that the stadium was full and they would not be allowed in. The problem was many of those stuck outside had valid tickets. When the fans refused to disperse a stand-off ensued which culminated in riot police wading in with batons before setting off tear gas which resulted in hundreds of people running for cover. It is no surprise that Uefa are already pointing the finger squarely in the direction of ticketless Liverpool fans. There is no doubt that they must take their share of the blame, but the lion's share must go to Uefa, who showed again that the needs of fans are nowhere near the top of its agenda. The time for washing of hands is over – Uefa must face up to its own responsibilities once and for all. | 
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