Is this really the business of UEFA

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I was doing a wee edit after posting yesterday an somehow managed to edit out the entire article, ! Reposting now WITH the words.........

This is turning into farce. We all know songs are sung by crowds as an expression of solidarity but when you think about it, what business is it of UEFA to judge the songs or the singing. What next - marks out of ten for lyrics and melody? A morality version of Eurovision?

If public morality has now become the province of football authorities, is it only be judged in terms of the collective voice of crowds. Would Jim Torbet abusing children have led to a ban on Celtic admitting anyone under the age of twelve to watch their games. Or the Catholic church systematically buggering children prevent the participation of catholic coaches or managers throughout Europe? Did the mass murder and ethnic cleansing of Bosnians see UEFA banning the Croatian or Serbian FA's from Euro Championships? Did Franco's systematic brutality of his citizens see Spanish clubs banned while Real Madrid were winning all those European Cups?

Is having an owner involved in dubious business deals an afront to UEFA's moral code? Are convicted criminals to be banned from attending football games? Are players convicted of breaking the law to be suspended? Or Ginger haired managers suspended for beating their wife perhaps, where does UEFA stand on wife beating?

Surely UEFA is a body to administer the game of football in Europe. Surely we already have governments, legislatures, police and courts to establish codes of behavior and deal with offences against the public interest. Where in the legal framework of any European country does it accommodate UEFA to act as judge and jury on the conduct of it's citizens?

UEFA is effectively serving punishment on private companies on the basis that criminal law is being broken on it's premises by individuals who are not employed by it and have no contractual responsibility to it. And UEFA is doing this, not on the evidence of it's own police service interpreting it's own laws, but on the reports of unaccredited and unaccountable individuals and organizations, sometimes with a clear conflict of interest.

In this part of the world enormous effort is placed upon ensuring democratic governance. We willingly rush to war in order to assure our democratic rights and award Nobel Prizes to those who foster democracy across the world. The exception appears to be our willingness to stand aside while a footballing authority intercedes in the legal affairs of our citizens and corporate organizations. We demand no democratic credentials of UEFA, there is no accountability required, and no democratic participation by the individuals being judged by it.

I have no problem with UEFA judging the conduct of it's constituent clubs and national FA's. I have a huge problem with UEFA stepping outside its footballng perimeter and judging the conduct of private citizens who are not members, employees or owners of those clubs. That, in my estimation, is a matter reserved exclusively to the national and EU courts.

If I am to be excluded from attending a football game on the decision of UEFA, where do I seek redress for the constraint of my freedoms? The answer of course is that I don't. I am punished after being judged by a body with no jurisdiction over me and without ever having been convicted of any offence. 

This might seem to be a pointless perspective but I think it lies at the heart of the entire madness and is the crack though which personal interest is able to leverage collective behaviour. It's why we go to such enormous lengths to guard our democracies. At least that's how the script is usually written. 

The rise of the sporting authorities, their growing wealth and political influence, and their impact on nations and citizens alike is not limited to football either. Perhaps the best example of why someone urgently needs to stand on UEFA's toes is the mind boggling corruption of the Olympic movement. In the history of western society and with the possible exception of the catholic church and FIFA, has there ever been a less accountable organization that wielded more power and influence than the IOC? If this is the template that UEFA is now embracing then it is perhaps no surprise that it has little interest in respecting the rights of people like you and me.

We all realize there are indeed issues to be dealt with but every one of us needs to think seriously about the deeper and more insidious game being played by those who are in a position to threaten something altogether more offensive than the songs being sung at football matches.

[Ayrshirebear73 27]

Or we could just stop singing stuff that gets our club into trouble. Change hello hello as suggested elsewhere on here and then more uefa threats. Simples!!!!!!