UEFA issues apology after running out of medals at Europa League trophy presentation

UEFA has issued its "sincerest apologies" after several Tottenham players were left without Europa League winners' medals during the trophy presentation following Spurs' first major trophy in 17 years. The incident caused embarrassment for Aleksander Ceferin, president of the governing body.

The medal shortage became apparent during Wednesday night's ceremony in Bilbao, after Tottenham's 1-0 victory over Manchester United. The last three players congratulated by Ceferin — Cristian Romero, Son Heung-min (who lifted the trophy), and Rodrigo Bentancur — were left without medals on the pitch. Meanwhile, injured players James Maddison and Timo Werner, both in full kit, and Dejan Kulusevski, who appeared on crutches, all received medals and celebrated with their teammates.

UEFA released a statement saying: "To our great displeasure, we did not have enough medals available on stage during the trophy presentation due to an unexpected discrepancy in the player count. More team members, including injured players, participated in the ceremony than initially anticipated. The missing medals were promptly delivered to the winning team in the dressing room, along with our sincerest apologies for the oversight."

The European body explained that clubs had been informed only 30 medals would be presented on stage, with a further 20 medals provided after the ceremony for distribution among players and staff. Adding to UEFA's discomfort, all eight officials received medals on stage.

Tottenham will mark their Europa League triumph with an open-top bus parade in north London on Friday evening. The celebrations will kick off around 5.30pm at Fore Street in Edmonton Green, travelling along the High Road past Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before concluding in the stadium's service yard on Northumberland Park.

The parade is expected to last between 60 and 90 minutes, culminating in a presentation of the trophy to fans on a stage set up outside the stadium on Paxton Terrace.