Beer, Euro 2024 and all these trophies – what’s happening?

Follow the live coverage of Switzerland vs. Italy And Germany vs Denmark at Euro 2024 today

The European Championship was beer-soaked. In the fan zones and in front of the stadiums. In the stands and within the halls.

Everyone was soaked. Fans, players and – to the nice amusement of those not wearing lanyards – journalists who hid their laptops under a roof and got here to press conferences dripping with alcohol.

Get the little violins. Maybe a towel.

We must talk in regards to the plastic cups that rain down from the stands on anyone taking a corner kick or goal kick.

But first the beer.

The official sponsor of the tournament is the German brewery Bitburger, and the bars within the hall are stocked exclusively with their products. At matches within the Allianz Arena, for instance, Pils, Radler and a non-alcoholic beer cost €7 for 500ml. At matches in Cologne, on the RheinEnergieStadion, they serve Kölsch, the sweet beer that is frequently served in small, cylindrical glasses. There aren’t any limits on how much people can purchase, and fans can drink anywhere within the stadium.

With exceptions.

At England's group match against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, only beer with two percent alcohol was served, as a substitute of the same old 4.8 percent. The game was considered a high-risk match. Other special measures were also taken, including a ban on alcohol within the stands. It is currently unclear whether England's round of 16 match against Slovakia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday will probably be subject to the identical restrictions.

But even with the lower alcohol content, most traveling fans enjoy a distinct level of freedom in terms of drinking than they do at home.

Since 1985, fans of the Football League in England have been banned from drinking alcohol “within sight of the pitch.” In Scotland, the principles are even stricter: alcohol consumption in stadiums will not be permitted in any respect.

In Spain, only non-alcoholic beer is allowed. In France, alcohol sales in stadiums are prohibited during Ligue 1 matches. In Serbia, bars around stadiums are only allowed to serve alcohol as much as two hours before kick-off.

And then there’s Germany.

UEFA's approach to running tournaments is to adapt food and drinks rules to local laws, and in Germany alcohol is an everyday feature on Bundesliga match days. There could also be restrictions on high-risk games, as happened at Euro 2024, that will not be unusual, but there can be something fundamentally un-German about not with the ability to watch the football match with a drink in hand.

Of course, clubs make numerous money from beer sales; just about all of them in the highest two leagues have a brewery as a sponsor. Schalke's Veltins Arena has a famous 5km pipeline connecting the stadium to an area brewery, so every weekend beer sprays out of German stands. Watch Borussia Dortmund's Yellow Wall when a goal is scored; in the appropriate light and from the appropriate angle, it may appear like the entire stand is crying with joy.

There were fears about this. For example, the British Foreign Office issued a warning in regards to the alcohol content of German lager before the English fans travelled to Germany. But the fears of excessive consumption have to this point not come true. There have been few arrests and, although many fans spent long days in sun-drenched beer gardens, there was little unrest.

spoke to a steward on the Allianz Arena on Tuesday evening. He said that he and his team had hardly experienced any problems with the players' behavior through the tournament. They had been vigilant. So far every part goes well, although high-proof alcohol was served on the games in Munich, that are all considered high-risk games.

The plastic cups are a nuisance, nevertheless, and will be found in all places – even at press conferences. On Tuesday evening, Dragan Stojkovic was asked whether Serbian fans who threw them at Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel had caused an unnecessary distraction and thus contributed to his team's elimination after a goalless draw.

“Please ask me about football,” Stojkovic pleaded.

Three nations have been fined to this point for fans throwing objects onto the pitch – Croatia, Scotland and Albania – and more are set to follow. When France played the Netherlands within the group stage, Antoine Griezmann needed to dodge a hail of beer mugs at a corner. Against Switzerland, Germany's Toni Kroos was similarly bombarded in the primary half in Frankfurt, as was Italy's Lorenzo Pellegrini against Croatia.

Before the match in Leipzig, some fans and journalists within the lower tiers were hit from above by plastic cups. Later, the ball actually hit someone that had landed on the pitch. When Schmeichel scored on Tuesday evening, substitute Yussuf Poulsen had to assist clear the penalty area within the incident about which Stojkovic was questioned.

When Gareth Southgate approached the fans after the ultimate whistle of England's 0-0 draw with Slovenia, they reacted with boos and plastic sheets; the English Football Association must expect a tremendous.

Is UEFA planning to take motion?

When asked in regards to the beer mugs, a spokesman said on Tuesday that they might wait for full reports before making any decisions. There is a few movement, but we will not be quite sure what yet.

Plastic cups will not be often such a giant nuisance in Germany. In March 2022, a match between Bochum and Borussia Mönchengladbach was abandoned after an assistant referee was hit in the pinnacle by a beer cup. In 2023, a 3. Liga match between Zwickau and Rot-Weiss Essen was abandoned at halftime when a beer was thrown in a referee's face. However, such incidents are rare, which might be partly as a result of changes within the law.

In 2023, many German stadiums began introducing reusable cups. In participating stadiums, fans pay a deposit for a cup outside the stadium and might get it back after the match by returning their cup. Bayern Munich has had such a policy since 2018/19, but many other clubs have adopted it in subsequent years. The environmental impact is one consequence. The willingness of fans to maintain their cups and deposit is one other.

The atmosphere through the Euro 2024 matches has been excellent to this point. With a couple of exceptions, fans enjoyed being together. They filled the stadiums and city centres with noise and joy, and although there was occasional hostility, the atmosphere was benevolent and stuffed with friendly rivalry.

Given that there hasn't been a football tournament in mainland Europe without Covid-19 restrictions for a few years, this assessment makes little sense. Many appear to be treating the tournament like a vacation and are determined to take advantage of the experience, although there have been some tiring organisational issues within the opening days.

Fans often only make headlines once they misbehave. At this tournament, which has seen dramatic improvements but still has queues and delays, they deserve credit for what they’ve made Euro 2024. Colourful, atmospheric, festival-like.

The freedom to rejoice was also a part of it.