Uefa statement on europa league medal shambles as tottenham stars miss out

UEFA have apologised for failing to provide Tottenham 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. That was despite injured Spurs stars James Maddison and

Lucas Bergvall, neither of whom were in the matchday squad, both receiving medals as they joined the rest of their team-mates on stage to lift the trophy. Son, Bentancur and Romero initially

appeared confused as to where their medals were, but quickly brushed that off as the South Korean skipper lifted the club's first major honour for 17 years. UEFA said that the players

did eventually receive their medals in the dressing room, explaining in a statement: "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.

"The missing medals were promptly delivered to the winning team in the dressing room, along with our sincerest apologies for the oversight." Injured Maddison had changed into his

full kit for the medal ceremony, insisting that he was required to if he wanted to receive a medal. He told CBS Sports: "They said I had to put the kit on to get a medal! I didn't

want to do a John Terry! "What a special feeling. Winning makes [the season] all alright – the pain of not being able to play is not being able to help the team. "It is a brilliant

achievement and a way to qualify for the Champions League but it is more winning for the fans. They have had years of pain." Skipper 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!" JOIN OUR NEW WHATSAPP COMMUNITY _AND RECEIVE YOUR DAILY

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