UEFA Apologises After Medal Mix-Up at Europa League Final

By Gyang Dakwo

UEFA has apologised after running out of winners’ medals during the Europa League final ceremony on Wednesday night. This happened after more Tottenham Hotspur players than expected came forward to receive their prizes.

Tottenham captain Son Heung-min and two other players were the last to line up and were left without medals after their team won 1-0 against Manchester United. The win gave Spurs their fourth European title.

Son had to lift the trophy without a medal around his neck.

“To our great displeasure, we did not have enough medals available on stage during the trophy ceremony presentation due to an unexpected discrepancy in the player count,” said UEFA, European football’s governing body, on Thursday.

They explained that more team members, including injured players, joined the ceremony than they had planned for.

UEFA confirmed that the missing medals were quickly delivered to the team in their dressing room, along with a full apology for the mistake.