page_title: 2000 UEFA Cup Final riots
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: 2000 UEFA Cup Final riots / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: Galatasaray Arsenal Emirates Cup 2013
context_page_description: The 2000 UEFA Cup Final Riots, also known as the Battle of Copenhagen, were a series of riots in City Hall Square, Copenhagen, Denmark between fans of English football team Arsenal and Turkish team Galatasaray around the 2000 UEFA Cup Final on 17 May 2000. Four people were stabbed in the scuffles, which also involved fans from other clubs and were viewed by the media as part of a retaliation for the killing of two Leeds United fans by Galatasaray supporters the month before.
  The events of the day started early in the morning when skirmishes broke out in a bar, which led to an Arsenal fan being stabbed. Later in the day, Galatasaray fans occupied City Hall Square before heading towards Arsenal fans in bars nearby. The Galatasaray fans were later attacked from behind by members of British hooligan firms seeking revenge for the Istanbul stabbings. The police had prior warning of potential trouble and deployed 2,000 officers to the area, yet they were unable to control the riot until they fired tear gas. This led to 19 injuries, including 4 stabbings, and 60 arrests with similar events occurring in England and Turkey in the aftermath of the riots.
context_section_description: The day after the riots, FA Executive Director David Davies, issued an apology for the violence. The Copenhagen riots followed a long line of similar events involving English football fans, and in June, UEFA's executive committee listed the Heysel Stadium disaster, disorders in Charleroi and Brussels, the killing of the two Leeds fans in Istanbul, and the Copenhagen riots and warned the British government that if there was any more rioting then England would be expelled from Euro 2000. In response, Prime Minister Tony Blair stated: 
  Hopefully this threat will bring to their senses anyone tempted to continue the mindless thuggery that had brought such shame to the country.
  Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit also made a call for fans to avoid violence after the riots, stating:
  Sports should be an initiative for friendship, not for fighting.
  In August 2000, Arsenal banned thirty-seven people involved in the Copenhagen riot from Arsenal's Highbury stadium. Leeds United also banned three of their fans from Elland Road after they had been identified in pictures of the riots.
  In the United Kingdom, Arsenal fans were originally blamed for the violence as the police had fixed blame on them. In Turkey, the media portrayed Galatasaray fans as acting in self-defence, with criticism directed at the British fans for allegedly attacking members of the press. However, there were conflicting reports, with claims that some Galatasaray fans were instigating some of the violence. Later on, British media blame also transferred towards Galatasaray fans.
  The Danish police were also criticised for their handling of the riots. Their policing of City Hall Square in the days running up to the final was described as "non-existent" by Dineen. It was noted by Turkish newspaper, Radikal that cannabis was being freely traded in the city square during the time before the riots, and the police did nothing about it. Arsenal fans also criticised the police, claiming that they had been slow to intervene and were "too soft" on the hooligans. It was claimed that the police failed to control the riots, and that they had been undermanned and outmaneuvered, to which Mogens Laurisden, the police chief in Copenhagen admitted that the police had been "under-prepared". This came after Arsenal had warned the police before the final that there could be hooligans travelling to Copenhagen.
  In the United Kingdom, the Daily Mirror newspaper printed pictures of Arsenal fans alleged to have been part of the violence. It later arose that the majority of the people in the photos were either not involved or had been acting in self-defence. The photos led to some postmen working for Royal Mail losing their jobs because they had been seen in the photos and in television coverage, even though they had not been arrested. Michael Doherty, the chairman of the Communication Workers Union, and his brother Tom took Royal Mail to an Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal claiming they had been acting in self-defence. In 2001, the tribunal ruled in their favour, and ordered Royal Mail to reinstate them. In 2012 Piers Morgan, the editor of the Daily Mirror at the time and a high-profile Arsenal fan who attended the match, apologised for printing the pictures.
  In 2013, Arsenal invited Galatasaray to compete at their annual Emirates Cup tournament. Some Arsenal fans reacted negatively to the news, claiming that there was still bad blood between the two sets of supporters and were concerned that there would be a resumption of hostilities between them.
caption: Arsenal invited Galatasaray to play in the Emirates Cup of 2013.
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