William Gaillard

William Gaillard is the director of communications and Public Affairs for Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). He is also the Senior Advisor to the President of UEFA Michel Platini.

He came to wide prominence following the condemnation that UEFA suffered in the wake of the 2007 Champions League Final.

Before UEFA

In addition to his career at UEFA, he has also been Director of Corporate Communication for the International Air Transport Association and the UN International Drug Control Program.

His role within UEFA

William Gaillard is the Senior Adviser to the UEFA President Michel Platini as well as the UEFA's Director of Communication and Public Affairs. He advises the UEFA President on political issues and oversees all external communications [cite web|url=http:http://www.communication-summit.eu/review/2007/speaker.php?id=17|title=William Gaillard|publisher=European Communicaton Summit|date=2007|accessdate=2008-09-16]

Gaillard heads UEFA's Communications and Public Affairs Division, which is responsible for all activities involving UEFA's relations with the media, as well as for the production of UEFA's various publications and reports and the UEFA charity portfolio. cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=131072/index.html|title=UEFA - Introduction: Marketing & Media|publisher=UEFA.com|date=2007-05-22|accessdate=2007-06-05]

William Gaillard has been highly visible since joining UEFA; indeed, he is perhaps the most prominent of UEFA's senior officials, along with President Michel Platini.

Gaillard has been highly active in anti-racism work within football. Following Englands game in 2004 against Spain when players were subjected to racial abuse, he stated that players should not leave the pitch:

He is an active partner with Britain's Kick it Out campaign [cite web|url=http://www.kickitout.org/news.php/news_id/687|title=Galliard: denial exists over racism|publisher=Kickitout.org|date=2005-05-19|accessdate=2008-09-16] and UEFA's own uniteagainstracism [cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/kind=16/newsid=386151.html|title=Camp Nou takes centre stage|publisher=Uefa.com|date=2006-01-20|accessdate=2008-09-16]

2007 Champions League Final

At the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final trouble occurred after thousands of ticketless Liverpool supporters stormed the turnstiles, meaning some 2000 fans with genuine tickets were denied entry. Gaillard said that the problems in Greece were typical of the behaviour of some Liverpool supporters during the past four years, branding them the worst in Europe; cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article1879786.ece|title=Liverpool fans are worst in Europe|publisher=www.timesonline.co.uk|date=2007-06-04|accessdate=2008-09-16] despite earlier saying that both sets of supporters 'have a tradition of good behaviour'. cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/05/22/sfnbon22.xml|title=Greek police put on 'full alert'|publisher=Daily Telegraph|date=2007-05-23|accessdate=2007-06-08] He accused Liverpool supporters of stealing tickets "out of the hands of children" and said "we know what happened in Athens and Liverpool fans were the cause of most of the trouble there". [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/liverpool-are-the-worst-fans-in-europe-says-uefa-report-451610.html Liverpool are 'the worst fans in Europe' says Uefa report] ] This was seen by some as UEFA attempting to avoid the blame for the disorganisation of the final, and they were accused by Richard Caborn as entering into the blame game.cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/6717793.stm|title=Caborn and Parry hit back at Uefa|publisher=BBC|date=2007-06-04|accessdate=2007-06-05] [cite web|url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=433335&cc=5739|title=Soccernet|publisher=ESPN|date=2007-05-24|accessdate=2007-05-28] This also resulted in Gaillard being heavily criticisedcite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/6721545.stm|title= Caborn & Platini hold Reds talks|publisher=BBC|date=2007-06-05|accessdate=2007-06-05] by Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks.

British Sports Minister Richard Caborn, on June 5th 2007 met with UEFA president Michel Platini, after which the Frenchman denied that Liverpool supporters are the worst in europe [cite web|url=http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/53606,platini-says-liverpool-fans-not-worst.aspx|title=Platini Says Liverpool Fans Not Worst|publisher=442|date=2007-06-06|accessdate=2008-09-16] .

See also

*2007 UEFA Champions League Final
*UEFA

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/6717793.stm Caborn and Parry hit back at Uefa]
* [http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/that-was-the-week--better-to-travel-without-a-ticket-than-without-a-soul-685273.html Under the tenets of collective responsibility, William Gaillard and Michel Platini are to blame]
* [http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liverpoolfc/redwatch/tm_headline=gaillard-figures-don--8217-t-add-up&method=full&objectid=19218269&siteid=50061-name_page.html Gaillard figures don’t add up]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4021843.stm Taylor wanted England to walk off]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/world/2002/september_11_one_year_on/2164747.stm Aviation's continuing crisis]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/6686867.stm Uefa blames Reds fans for chaos]
* [http://thinkexist.com/quotes/william_gaillard/ William Gaillard Quotes]