Following the incidents that occurred last week at the conclusion of the UEFA Champions League match between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid CF, the International Sports Press Association and the German Sports Press Association called for an open dialogue with Bayern Munich and UEFA to help prevent similar incidents from affecting media personnel in the future.
At the end of the match, three sports photographers were injured when supporters attempted to storm the pitch. One photographer reportedly lost consciousness for a brief period during the incident.
In a formal letter issued on behalf of AIPS and the AIPS Football Working Group, both Bayern Munich and UEFA were urged to engage in constructive discussions aimed at improving safety measures. The letter emphasized the need for greater protection for sports photographers working in the vulnerable area located between the stands and the playing field.
AIPS acknowledged UEFA’s decision to launch an immediate investigation into the matter but stressed that the investigation should not have marked the end of the process. The letter stated that, regardless of who was responsible for the incident, both Bayern Munich and UEFA needed to take all necessary precautions to prevent similar occurrences in the future and to ensure that sports photographers could perform their duties in a safe working environment.
Separately, the German Sports Press Association also wrote to both parties, urging them to begin constructive discussions to ensure that such incidents would not happen again. The association proposed that stakeholders work together to address several key concerns, including:
- How restricted areas could have been more clearly defined and consistently secured
- What preventive measures could have been introduced to stop situations from escalating
- How communication between security personnel and accredited media representatives could have been improved
- How observations made on-site could have been taken seriously and assessed appropriately from the outset
Both International Sports Press Association (AIPS) and German Sports Press Association called for open dialogue among all relevant stakeholders in order to improve safety standards and create safer working conditions for media professionals, particularly sports photographers.
