The main organizer of the EUROFANZ festival is Karpaty, a Ukrainian NGO created by the fans of FC Karpaty Lviv. The festival aims to bring European football fans from different countries together, encourage respect and friendship between them, and create a spirit of sportsmanship. Participants also get to see the city of Lviv with its cultural and historical monuments. By the way, Lviv was one of the host cities of UEFA Euro 2012 and EUROFANZ was listed as one of the official Euro 2012 events.
The inaugural EUROFANZ event was held in 2007 and featured four teams consisting of football fans. They represented three Ukrainian clubs (Karpaty Lviv, Dynamo Kyiv, Shakhtar Donetsk) and one Russian (Zenit Saint Petersburg). The fans of Dynamo Kyiv won the tournament. The 2008 tournament featured two more teams from outside Ukraine, representing the Wales national football team and Wisła Kraków.
EUROFANZ 2009 brought together 15 football fan teams from across Europe. EUROFANZ 2013 and 2015 had a record number of participants, 24 teams divided into several groups. Over the years, the tournament has welcomed teams from Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Wales, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Spain, the Netherlands, Scotland, Italy, England, Austria, Germany, Sweden, France, Finland, Belgium, Denmark, Belarus, Romania, Ireland, Moldova, Slovenia, Serbia, Slovakia, Georgia, Northern Ireland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Bulgaria. They represented either national teams of their respective countries or specific football clubs.
The program of EUROFANZ is centered around the football tournament but it also includes a bunch of other events such as parties, guided tours, and more. The festival also has a charity program named From European Fans to Lviv Children. Many fans participating in the tournament bring humanitarian aid and sports equipment for local children’s hospitals and orphanages.
In 2022 and 2023, special editions of EUROFANZ were held in Brno, Czech Republic. They were tribute charity football fans tournaments to raise funds to help Ukraine against Russian aggression.
Photo: Vladimir Dubas
