SOFIA, August 18, 2024 - Journalists have always been an integral part of the atmosphere of major sporting events, particularly football. What's more - it is thanks to them that the world understands who Pele, Maradona, Cruyff are, how matches have developed in history and why football is the most popular sport on the planet. From this point of view, we have to admit that football journalists make a huge contribution to the social phenomenon called football.

REGRET However, with regret, I have to state that, especially in recent years, the attitude towards them does not correspond at all to their influence in society, on the contrary. The recently concluded Euro 2024 in Germany is a vivid confirmation of an increasingly dangerous trend of neglecting journalists. This is especially true for veterans in football journalism like me. For the first time in the 36 years I have been covering major football championships, I have been denied access to four games, including both semi-finals. Before that it had happened quite by accident, but to deprive a journalist like me of one quarter-final and two semi-finals – this is more than scandalous, even criminal! The problem also lies in the fact that paper tickets are now a thing of the past, and everything is done online. It doesn't even say ticket, but media booking update. This practically means that the journalist cannot react in any way and get an explanation by what CRITERION he was rejected at the expense of another. Who are these newly hatched onliners who will predetermine the fate of journalists, whether over the years their health and life for football? They certainly weren't born when my first major championship, Euro 88, was in Germany. Don't they have a database in UEFA to find out how many World, European etc. championships I have covered? At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Brazilian phenomenon Ronaldo personally awarded me for my 9 world championships. I have a personal media profile in the European association. And if they don't know who I am, they should open Google to find out. Euro 2024 was my 10th European Championship, where I had to swallow a huge disappointment.

 

A few months earlier I was at the African Cup of Nations tournament in Ivory Coast. Despite the presence of thousands of journalists from all over the world, I had no ticket refusals and was an eyewitness to all the matches I requested access to. Not to mention that unlike Europe, Africa has created much better working conditions for football journalists. So it is possible on the Black Continent, but not on the Old Continent!

NO WAITING LIST The invasion of sites accredited to the championship is not from yesterday, but those who depend on both accreditation and the distribution of ticket quotas must take into account the fact that stadiums are not stretchable, but of a fixed capacity. Do these onliners know what "journalists" they give tickets to? They don't watch the matches at all, but in the stands they dig into GSM. In the preliminary groups, each rejection was final with no waiting list. In the direct eliminations, in order to wash their hands elegantly, they put such a sheet online, explicitly emphasizing that whoever does not receive a confirmation message will drink... a glass of cold water. Before, everyone would put their name on the waiting list, the UEFA official would come with the extra tickets, the journalists would be called by name and everyone would know in real time whether they would be lucky or not. There is no such thing now! In practice, this means that this sheet is pro forma and somewhere in some secret rooms our fate is being decided. I never heard of a journalist who was approved after a waiting list. I had pre-booked train tickets between the cities for the semi-finals, but going there, there was no chance of getting into the match. Now who will pay these expenses for me as I am a freelance journalist? Maybe those UEFA onliners?

 

NULL AND VOID And something even more scandalous! Under the current system, if you are rejected for the match, your accreditation becomes null and void because you cannot even enter the press center to watch the match. Because about 50 meters from the stadium, the guards point their indicator at the accreditation and when they see red, the only way is back. Can you imagine – with accreditation you get a red card even for the press center where is your work place. O tempora, o mores! Not to mention that even on the day of the match, the press centers open at... 4 p.m. And what should the colleagues do who have been coming to work in peace for years in the morning.

CALL FOR CHANGE It is high time that UEFA totally changed its media policy towards veterans and this Berlin Wall in front of them must come down. The criterion should be first and foremost the veterans, of whom we are not many, because big names in the profession are no longer among us. They should be privileged in both accreditation and ticketing. This would be a mark of respect for these long-time chroniclers of football history.

RUMEN PAYTASHEV

Legendary Bulgarian football journalist, who covered 10 Euros in a row, 9 World Cups in a row, 8 Copa America, 5 African Cup of Nations, 2 Olympic tournaments and so on – 44 big tournaments