By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) have apologised for failing to provide Tottenham Hotspurs stars with Europa League winners’ medals after Wednesday night’s final victory over Manchester United.
Captain Son Heung-min, midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur and defender Cristian Romero were noticeably left without medals as they lifted the trophy in Bilbao.
“To our great displeasure, we did not have enough medals available on stage during the trophy ceremony presentation due to an unexpected discrepancy in the player count, as more team members – including injured players – participated in the ceremony than initially anticipated,” Uefa said.
“The missing medals were promptly delivered to the winning team in the dressing room, along with our sincerest apologies for the oversight.”
According to Uefa’s rules, both the winning and losing teams are presented with 50 medals each.
It is at the discretion of the club as to how those medals are distributed between players and staff.
Uefa had prepared 30 medals to hand out on the pitch prior to Spurs lifting their first piece of silverware in 17 years.
Son said of the victory: “This is what I’ve always dreamed for. Today is the day it happened. I am the happiest man in the world. When you look at the whole season there will always be some situation you have a tough time but we as players always stuck together.
“I felt the pressure. I wanted it so badly. The last seven days I was dreaming about this game every night. It finally happened and I can sleep easy now! We can celebrate today so let’s just make it one we will never forget and maybe I will miss the flight tomorrow!”