‘No drinking on buses and limited concessions’ among issues with Champions League final
‘Bad transport options that did not provide drinking water’ were one of the problems with this year’s Champions League final in Istanbul… with fans again ‘distressed’ by UEFA’s poor organisation.
- There were shocking scenes during Saturday’s Champions League final
- Before the game, fans were stranded miles from the stadium
- Reports have given a detailed account of the events in Istanbul before the match
Reports have emerged describing the ‘distress’ fans were in ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final.
UEFA’s showpiece, which ended 1-0 between Man City and Inter Milan, drew criticism for the organization that had started the day.
After the horrific scenes that marred last year’s Champions League final in Paris, fans hoped for better preparation from UEFA, but were disappointed.
In a comprehensive report by Sky Sports on Saturday’s event, they claim that transportation availability, concession options and number of restrooms were all substandard.
Their report claims that City fans were ‘told not to use taxis’ despite the 20km journey to the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.
Manchester City fans faced a number of issues as they traveled to the Champions League final
Fans advised against taking taxis in favor of shuttle buses, despite traffic in which many of the buses became stuck
Supporters of both teams had to wait in agonizing lines to gain access to the stadium
Inter fans gathered by the thousands outside the stadium as they waited to enter
However, fans soon learned that they were “not allowed water” on other transportation options – such as shuttle buses.
These bus journeys were estimated to take only 20 minutes, but in some cases took up to three hours, leaving supporters ‘upset’.
On Saturday, images circulated on social media as fans were forced to walk to the stadium – in an attempt to avoid horrific traffic.
Once there, the alleged ‘fan zone’ turned out to be little more than a few concession stands and ‘not many toilets’.
Queues for both facilities stretched to over an hour and a half as fans competed for some food and drink prior to the game.
The report claims that even fans leaving the game at 1 a.m. local time faced travel issues and massive queues for buses.
It had been expected that UEFA’s preparations for this year’s final would have been better – given the gruesome scenes that ruined last year’s event in Paris.
City fans are inspected by the police in Istanbul before entering the stadium
Last season’s final in Paris between Liverpool and Real Madrid was marred by security issues
An independent report commissioned by UEFA concluded that only the calm of Liverpool fans could prevent a ‘mass disaster’ after UEFA sidelined safety and security, that French police behaved incompetently by firing tear gas at the crowd and that French Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin increased the number of fans without tickets “as an excuse to mask other failures.”
On the day of the match, long before kick-off, an outside consultant told UEFA the checkpoint that caused the chaos was “not fit for purpose”, expressed his “disgust” at police vans parked to interfere with fans and warned ‘this [plan] will not survive contact” – but “none of these observations led to action.”
Hundreds of fans with real tickets were denied entry due to the chaos or because they were accused of counterfeit tickets because stewards were untrained and the scanning equipment was faulty.