Being the stellar product that it is, the UEFA Champions League has garnered global attention over the years. Millions of fans from 5 continents tune in to watch the spectacle unfold, with the yearly final being a special occasion.
Despite its incredible popularity, UEFA remains unconvinced. And in the search of gaining even more attention, they’ve turned to an age-old trick used by American sports.
Following in the footsteps of the Super Bowl, the UCL finals for the past few years have featured a pre-match performance, delivered by an A-list music act.
This year’s iteration had singer Camila Cabello headline the show, sponsored by Pepsi. To her credit, she and her team pulled off an impressive display, however, trouble outside the stadium hampered proceedings.
As a result of terrible organization from UEFA, thousands of Liverpool fans were denied entry and eventually tear-gassed. And despite the turmoil unfolding outside, UEFA still went ahead with the performance, leading to a hefty delay before kickoff.
Naturally, fans were displeased.
The mere notion of a pre-match performance will have football purists claiming that the ‘game’s gone’, so, a delay is more than enough to create some real annoyance. The supporters inside the Stade De France certainly didn’t shy away from expressing their displeasure as they sang their club anthems loudly, overshadowing the singer’s performance.
Baffled by the response, Cabello in a now-deleted tweet, vented out her frustration.
Supporters were already teetering on the edge of vexation, and her tweet pushed them over the line. Fans on Twitter clapped back at the 25-year-old and reminded her that the affair was about the game, instead of her performance.
They further suggested that her tweet came off as selfish, and the backlash eventually led to it being deleted.
