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Details
Ref: FIFA Fair Play Award
Awarded to: Celtic fans (2003)
Date: 2003
Background
The FIFA Fair Play Award is an award given by FIFA for reasons including:
(i) to players who performed fair play in their games or were involved in a specific incident of fair play; or
(ii) to the spectators were given for their good behaviour for a long period of time or fighting against racism.
In 2003, Celtic fans were awarded for their behaviour and bonhomie in the UEFA Cup Final in Seville.
No fans were arrested, and the behaviour was exemplary (relatively for a travelling football support), and the award was an unexpected delight for all connected to the club. Thanks and praise must also be given to the Porto fans who were well received by the Celtic fans as well on the day.
It was the second time the award had come to Scotland. The inaugural award was given to fans of Dundee United in 1987 following their sporting behaviour in the UEFA Cup Final defeat to Gothenburg that year.
To time of writing, three Scottish teams have made the UEFA Cup Final but only one of those three have not received this award. Rangers (RIP) fans tore up Manchester and disgraced their country.
Former Celtic player Paolo Di Canio was awarded this prize after shunning a goalscoring opportunity while Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard was lying injured on the ground. FIFA described the act as “a special act of good sportsmanship“.
Trivia
- Previous Celtic linked winners include Irish national team supporters (joint in 1997) and Paolo di Canio. The Northern Irish fans won it (joint) in 1998.
- Dundee Utd won the same award back in 1987
- Rangers (OldCo) are the only Scottish club to have reached the UEFA Cup final and where their club didn’t win the Fair Play award. Says it all really.
Quotes
“Celtic fans, you are great, you are marvellous”
Sepp Blatter (FIFA President)
“We felt it right that when Fifa came to us for nominations for the world award we should nominate them (the Celtic fans). The whole of that week they were just magnificent, even after their side were defeated.”
Uefa spokesman Mike Lee (2003)
Recipients of the FIFA Fair Play Award 2003 : The Supporters Of Celtic FC
Recipients of the FIFA Fair Play Award 2003 : The Supporters Of Celtic FC
Celebrating Celtic Pride In The Heart Of Andalusia : 15 Dec 2003
http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/awards/index/0,2419,73589,00.html?articleid=73589
Last May, as the UEFA Cup approached its riveting climax, the host city of Seville found itself awash in a sea of green – a rather atypical colour for the dry streets of the Andalusian capital in the midst of summer. But no matter where Celtic FC plays – whether near or far from its Glasgow roots – a flood of faithful supporters is certain to follow. If you inject the emotional charge of a European championship match into the mix, the magnetic pull on those whose hearts bleed Celtic green becomes all but irresistible.
For the occasion, upwards of 80,000 supporters bearing the distinctive hoop-green jerseys made the pilgrimage to southern Spain to witness the 2003 UEFA Cup title match that pitted Celtic’s “Bhoys” against FC Porto of Portugal. Hoping to refresh the taste of past European glories, the mass of Celtic fans transformed Seville from quiet neutral venue to electric home ground – never mind the fact that the site of the Final, the Estadio Olympico, only had room for 45,000 spectators.
Although simple mathematics told them that not even half of those who descended upon the Spanish city would find themselves fortunate enough to see the game from inside the stadium, this small detail became a rallying cry rather than discouraging would-be pilgrims from not just around Europe, but also across the globe. “Everyone felt like they had to be there,” said Eddie Toner, General Secretary of the Celtic Supporters Association. “Celtic supporters think of themselves as a community – a real family. They all wanted to go and be a part of the experience together.”
As the weekend prior to the Wednesday night showdown began, the looming fortress walls of the ancient Alcázar bore witness to a steady stream of shamrock-crested jerseys entering the city. Though the Spaniards’ weekend was winding down, the Celtic “extended” weekend was just getting into high gear. Fanning out from the banks of the Río Guadalquivir, the Hoops faithful filled the narrow streets and plazas in the city centre not only with their energy, but with their infectious and playful delight as well.
Over the course of a few days, Seville became a Celtic haven as it seemed everywhere you turned there were emerald smiles and songs. When the majority of the 25,000 Porto fans made their belated appearance the day before the match, the green-clad partygoers welcomed their opponents with open arms. Soaking in the sunshine, marvelling in the city’s architecture and sharing in the plentiful bounty of tapas and cervesas, Seville witnessed 100,000 football fanatics turn their city into a continuous fiesta of good will and Fair Play.
“Celtic and Porto fans revelled in the party together – it really became a carnival of football celebration,” beamed Toner. “It was a great example of what supporting a team should be about.” Even after Porto’s Brazilian striker Derlei ended Celtic’s title hopes with a dramatic and heartbreaking goal in the 115th minute, the Celtic supporters maintained their good cheer.
Although football has too often in the past been beleaguered by the blight of a few ruffians who spoil the party at the expense of the real fans, the supporters of Celtic FC were a shining illustration of the meaning of Fair Play during their stay in Seville – jubilant in celebration, stalwart in support and although beaten in the score-line, utterly undefeated in spirit.
“Thanks to their exploits across Europe in recent years, Celtic’s travelling supporters have now become a byword for good-natured sporting friendship and unswerving devotion to their team,” said Celtic Executive Director Peter Lawwell. FIFA couldn’t agree more and is proud to recognise the supporters of Celtic FC with the FIFA Fair Play Award 2003.
Euro Final Celtic Fans Set to Net World Fair Play Award
By Jude Sheerin, Scottish Press Association
The Celtic fans who descended on Spain in their tens of thousands for this year’s Uefa Cup final were nominated for an award by the world football governing body today.
Fifa said the Hoops faithful deserve a Fair Play Award for their excellent behaviour at the match in Seville. The Parkhead side lost 3-2 to Porto in extra-time in May but the conduct of the estimated 80,000 fans was praised by Spanish police and officials.
Celtic fans have already won a fair play award from the European football authority, Uefa, for being such good sports in Seville. Celtic executive director today applauded the supporters nominated for the 2003 Fifa Fair Play Award.
He said: “Seville will go down in history as one of Celtic Football Club’s proudest ever moments when over 80,000 fans helped create a global sporting spectacular.
“This nomination is a great honour for the club and a fitting tribute to the most passionate football supporters anywhere.”
Uefa insists the club’s fans deserve the recognition for their sporting behaviour despite the extra-time defeat in Spain.
Uefa spokesman Mike Lee said: “We felt it right that when Fifa came to us for nominations for the world award we should nominate them (the Celtic fans).
“The whole of that week they were just magnificent, even after their side were defeated.”
Celtic fans ‘Europe’s best’
(BBC: Link, 2003)
Celtic’s fans have been named the best in Europe by Uefa.
The Scottish outfit’s supporters received the 2003 Uefa Fair Play Award on Wednesday for their behaviour during the club’s run to the Uefa Cup final last season. European football’s governing body paid tribute to the 80,000 fans that had travelled to Seville to help create a fiesta atmosphere in the Spanish city.
Celtic Supporters Association general secretary Eddie Toner said: “The Fair Play Award is a fantastic tribute to the Celtic supporters who represented the club in Europe so magnificently last season. “Celtic supporters have travelled in large numbers throughout Europe over many years and they have rightly earned an excellent reputation during this time. “The Fair Play Award is further recognition of the Celtic supporters’ high standing in Europe and an honour which is well deserved.”
Celtic chairman Brian Quinn added: “The backing the team received from supporters throughout our entire Uefa Cup run both home and away was overwhelming and the supporters’ behaviour was a credit to the club. “Despite the disappointment in Seville, Celtic’s Uefa Cup challenge and the crucial role which the supporters played in this effort will be remembered and treasured for years to come.”
Celtic season ticket holders John Byrne and John Gallagher accepted the award at the annual Uefa Football Gala in Monte Carlo. Uefa also confirmed that it is to present a special plaque to the club’s fans at Celtic Park before a match in September.
Blatter praises Celtic Park
(BBC)
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has suggested that Celtic Park is fit to host the final of a major tournament.
Blatter was in Glasgow to present the club’s fans with the Fifa Fair Play Award for 2003.
“I have seen a lot of stadia during my 20 years working with Fifa and I can say that this stadium is definitely up to hosting any final,” he said.
“I have seen the pitch, I have seen the stadium, I have seen the facilities – and it’s five-star, definitely.”
Celtic’s fans received the award for their behaviour before and during last season’s Uefa Cup final, when their side lost to Porto.
“I was not present in Seville personally, but there were Fifa delegates there and, from the reports that were on TV, I can only say that this is not the first time that Celtic fans have presented themselves as warm and wonderful supporters,” said Blatter.
He appeared to give a guarded welcome to the idea of Celtic and major rivals Rangers one day playing in the English Premiership – but preferred to see it in the context of a merger between the four British football associations.
“It is a headache to have four British associations,” he said.
“If they were together, there would be a wonderful Premier League and more.”
Blatter stressed that Fifa’s executive committee would only consider the matter should the Scottish Football Association and its English counterpart agree first to any switch by the Old Firm.
Hugh McIIvanney’s article, in the Sunday Times,
The Voice of Sport, August 31, 2003.
Celtic get reward for Seville miracle
Sometimes even football administrators have to be complimented and the tributes are undoubtedly due to Uefa for showing the imagination to rise above tradition by bestowing their fair-play award for last season not on a club but on a mass of paying customers, the amazing worldwide army of Celtic fans. That the Celtic support is a phenomenon totally unique in the whole of sport became undeniable when an estimated 70,000 of the faithful converged on Seville for the Uefa Cup Final in late May, and appropriated that beautiful city for a gigantic street party whose bonhomie remained magnificently undiluted after their team were beaten by Porto.
The hoariest veteran observers of the scene (All right, I’m talking personally here) had to admit that they had never witnessed anything comparable. It must be said immediately, of course, that the Glasgow club’s following contains plenty of questionable elements. Bigotry and a willingness to be violently contentious are not hard to find in their rank. But when they congregate from across the globe in a vast concentration of allegiance, the warm, sentimental mixture of memories and hopes that binds them together invariably swamps the less attractive tendencies.
Like Scotland’s tartan army, who have also consistently earned admiration in distant countries, they police themselves. The hardest men among them embrace the wholesome principle that there is nothing more macho than civility and respect for their hosts. Those who step out of line are liable to be reminded forcefully of their responsibilities.
The Celtic supporters thoroughly deserve the award for the small miracle of Seville. They can hardly be optimistic about their club’s prospects of going far in this year’s Champions League. But winning friends is never a negligible consolation.
Football 365 have picked their highlights of season 2002/03. Here is what they had to say about us.
You’ll Never Walk Alone: May 25
Celtic’s end of season was heartbreaking by anyone’s standards. A first European final in 36 years ended in a 3-2 defeat to Porto in Seville, then a final-day goal difference race for the Scottish title with their bitter rivals Rangers saw them briefly in possession only to fall two goals behind, miss a penalty and then hear that the Gers had scored a spot-kick of their own to move out of sight.
And how did the fans respond? With a chorus of their anthem, perhaps more widely popularised by Liverpool but one that the Celts claim they sang first. Not with recriminations or silence, but words of support. The essence of being a football supporter, as opposed to a mere fan.
UEFA (2003)
UEFA Fair Play Award: Celtic FC supporters
An estimated figure of over 80,000 Celtic supporters from all over the world travelled to Seville to support their team in the UEFA Cup final. Embracing the Porto fans who crossed their paths, they converted the city into one huge fiesta and, whether they saw the dramatic final from the stands at the Estadio Olímpico or not, created an atmosphere that the locals will never forget. On behalf of them and the game of football, UEFA can only invite everybody to take their hats off and salute the ‘Bhoys’ from Glasgow.
FIFA (2003)
Celtic picked up Fifa’s Fair Play Award on behalf of the fans that travelled to last season’s Uefa Cup final.
Around 80,000 travelled to Seville to see their team lose 3-2 to Porto and the honour is for the supporters’ “exemplary fair and cordial conduct”.
Executive director Peter Lawwell said: “Celtic is a unique club with many thousands of fantastic supporters.
“This award is a tribute to all of them, as they showed last year, they are the best fans in the world.”
The Fifa prize follows the award in August of Uefa’s equivalent accolade.
Eddie Toner, general secretary of the Celtic Supporters Association said last week: “I am sure all supporters will be delighted with this tremendous honour.
“The supporters were a credit to Celtic Football Club and we all hope that we will be fortunate enough to enjoy similar occasions in European football this season.”
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill added: “We have been delighted with the backing the team has received from supporters in all the competitions we have been involved in, both home and abroad. They all richly deserve this recognition from Fifa.”