Connect with us

Features

Motorhomes for toilets, three-hour bus rides, scams from catering staff – Inside the 2023 UEFA Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter

Published:

17:38

on

| Last Updated:

20:45

on

In the days leading up to the biggest club football match in Europe, UEFA told sections of the media that “lessons had been learned” from the disgraceful scenes in Paris just one year prior.

The attempts made by European football’s governing body to avoid such scenes from unfolding yet again were nothing short of shambolic, with the experiences of Manchester City supporters on Saturday posing significant risks to health, safety, and in some cases, lives.

UEFA outlined what appeared to be a clear plan for the movement of supporters throughout the day, offering ‘shuttle buses’ to ensure the smooth transition from airport arrivals, to a city centre fan festival, before heading out to the stadium in good time for the match.

While the transport proved to be a significant part of the problems faced by fans, you’d only be scraping the surface when it comes to a consistent failure to operate a football match that many deem to be the pinnacle of European sport.

Breaking down events from arriving at Sabiha Gokcen Airport, to the festival of football on offer in Yenikapı and the pre-match festivities at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, to the return journey back into Istanbul for a night of celebration, here is how UEFA’s refined plan for the Champions League final panned out for Manchester City supporters.

Before

Things got off to a flyer; touching down in Istanbul at Sabiha Gokcen Airport to the south-east of the city centre, and being greeted by your first sight of these elusive UEFA shuttle buses transporting you direct to the Manchester City transport hub and fan festival in Yenikapı.

It all seemed quite pleasant at first, with no overcrowding, a couple of supporters stood up and made well aware of the journey that they were embarking on, which UEFA outlined would be around 1.5 hours, largely due to traffic heading into the city.

That was until it very quickly dawned upon those aboard the service that they would not be taking the direct route into the centre, and instead be heading via the O-7 to the very north of the city avoiding all toll roads and increasing the journey time by another 1.5 hours – a total of three hours aboard a shuttle bus with limited seating, no functioning air-con, no toilet, and no available water. It’s perhaps worth keeping this in mind as we progress through this run-down of events, as it’s applicable to every shuttle embarked upon throughout the day.

It’s also worth noting that our particular shuttle bus was forced into an abrupt stop on a six-lane carriageway due to a problem with one of the tyres, as a smell of burning rubber filled the vehicle. Our driver took it upon himself to walk alongside the road-side of the bus as we sat on the hard-shoulder, inspecting the service with a colleague who had also brought his shuttle to a halt just ahead, before continuing onwards.

Anyway, at least by the end of the journey we’d be living up the UEFA fan festival upon being dropped off outside the park itself, right? Wrong. After seemingly taking a wrong turn and meeting a dead-end on a side street, our two shuttle buses decided to drop us off… somewhere. Thankfully that was the end of the first hurdle, but the start of a 25 minute walk to Yenikapı. Manageable, but not as promised in UEFA’s brief to supporters.

The UEFA Champions League final ‘Champions Festival’ was a pretty glamorous affair, set alongside the harbour in Yenikapı and allowing for both match-goers and non-ticket holders to experience live music, food, and various activities put on by sponsors including Expedia and Pepsi.

Queues were the order of the day however, with a 30 minute wait for food accompanied by pretty lengthy delays for the activities too – but that was arguably to be expected given this was the free event for football supporters and locals to soak up the atmosphere around the main event.

Just a side note worthy of reading: Portaloos were aplenty to give credit to event organisers. Flushing capabilities, cleaning products, and chemicals in waste tanks not so much. What we’re saying here is scorching temperatures, plus human waste, all being mixed together in a confined space doesn’t end in the most pleasant experience.

Anyway, just one more shuttle bus and it was over to the Atatürk Olympic Stadium.

From our own personal point of view, which is certainly not applicable to 90% of other Manchester City fans on the day, the boarding process onto shuttle buses was handled pretty well… if you were early, it must be stressed. A sufficient amount of yellow vehicles awaited supporters, and once aboard you were on your way, albeit at a very slow pace.

Yet, in the 10 minutes that it had taken our shuttle to exit the transport hub and find its way onto the dual carriageway, you caught a glimpse of the extensive queue of City fans that had now formed. We weren’t to know how long they would be waiting, or whether enough buses were available for all of those expecting a ride. Some supporters had indicated that they were left waiting for up to three hours, however.

UEFA had warned supporters to board buses early, although it became very clear early on in the journey that their estimation of an hour-long hop over to the stadium was well wide of the mark.

That one hour estimation became 2.5 hours, with supporters held captive without accessible drinking water unless purchased at the fan festival, no available toilet, poor air conditioning, and insufficient seating capacity for the less able. The situation became that desperate for some of those aboard that they were forced into urinating inside plastic bottles.

In other shuttle buses, those aboard demanded that they were set free, and began to walk the remainder of the journey along the tarmac of O-3, as plenty were left in distress without available water and dozens of road-side salesman attempting to sell cans of beer and other such products at inflated prices. A last resort that some were forced into taking advantage of.

Anyway, at least Manchester City’s Fan Park could surely deliver when needed most, right?

Your first glimpse of the Manchester City fan park was a sea of dumper trucks, construction lorries, diggers, and a desolate waste ground that surrounded the Champions League final venue – hardly the magic of Europe’s most prestigious competition.

Supporters would be housed here for up to nine hours depending on arrival times. If you were happy with standing in the sunshine listening to Manchester City’s on-stage entertainment and live DJ, while consuming UEFA’s Heineken and very limited food choices of which waiting times were up to an hour, the experience could be deemed somewhat doable.

That was until supporters wanted to pay a visit to the toilets.

Behind makeshift fencing separating the fan park itself and the toilet area, you would be met by roughly ten portaloos, and a mixture between camper-vans, motorhomes, and caravans that had been converted into bathrooms.

These moving bogs would often drive off without warning, presumably to empty their collected loads and return for more customers. But why stress the without warning? Well, one Manchester City supporter found himself inside the toilet as it began to be driven away, as fellow fans desperately grabbed the attention of it’s driver to stop and free it’s unsuspecting user.

Remember the line where we said there seemed to be a sufficient amount of beer available to supporters? They were relatively quickly sold out, as fans in attendance looked to enjoy their experience in the sunshine by drinking the cans of Heineken before we were escorted out of the fan park and into a beer-free stadium with two hours until kick-off.

This is where we came across our first problem encounter concerning catering staff and their behaviour towards supporters over the price of beverages.

Staff behind the counter at one bar in a covered area of the Manchester City fan park began demanding tips from those waiting to be served, and those who placed tips within the box being held out by staff members would then be in with a chance of being served one of the final beers available. That’s a tip, plus the price of your beer. No UEFA personnel, security, or police were present to oversee the behaviour of catering staff behind the bars.

Anyway, there was a football match to enjoy, a football match that we would ultimately win. How could that possibly go wrong?

During

After being hurried into the arena itself, still with two hours until kick-off, Manchester City supporters in category four tickets placed along the bottom tier of the Ataturk Olympic Stadium were being served by one bar, and subsequently being forced to queue for up to 45 minutes for a bottle of water.

The match itself was a spectacle that many were able to enjoy without problems, and the result of the contest will ultimately override some of the discontent towards the experience as a whole, but even the action on the pitch couldn’t be totally enjoyed by spectators.

Thousands of Manchester City supporters have been left with injuries to their lower legs, sustaining cuts and bruising from sharp edges around the rim of low-lying seating that could not be folded away, as is the case in many football stadia in England for example.

Twitter user John Baker, who saw the funny side of the matter by likening the injuries sustained by the Ataturk Stadium seats to ‘badges of honour’, invited hundreds more Manchester City supporters to showcase their injuries – highlighting the severity of the matter.

Anyway, Manchester City had just won the Champions League. A quick hop on one of UEFA’s shuttle buses back into Istanbul city centre and we could all have a night to remember…

After

Upon leaving our block in the lower tier of the Ataturk Stadium, one bar appeared to remain open, selling Manchester City supporters small cups of water and the remaining soft drinks that were unsold. As you got closer, it was made very apparent by one member of staff that it was a cash-only bar, with no further explanation as to why.

Our order of two waters at said bar came to a total of 260TL (Turkish Lira) – roughly £9. It’s worth bearing in mind that prior to the game in the fan park, the same water was priced officially at €1 and supporters could pay in cash or card.

With no UEFA personnel in sight, or staff members policing the operation of the bar, we were left confronted by one ‘senior’ member of staff who quite aggressively claimed that 260TL was equivalent to €5, when it was in fact €10. Cash only, double the price, and no sign of tills being opened to account for the cash when handed over.

One supporter to our left – who was being served at the same time – was charged 800TL (Approx. £27) for a bottle of Pepsi. Once again, this was a transaction made via cash-only, and no change provided despite best attempts from those in proximity.

Another supporter who followed shortly after requested change from another member of staff, who proceeded to store the entire cash transaction in his pocket, before attempting to joke off the situation when confronted by a number of supporters.

Upon exiting the turnstiles of the arena, supporters were then left to their own devices, with unstable, rubble walkways leading the way back to the fan park and onwards to shuttle buses. To make matters worse, there was no lighting in operation, and local street salesman who had found their way into the stadium perimeter confronting those who desperately tried to make their way back to transport.

Upon reaching the transport terminal, confusion very quickly hit those making their way back into Istanbul, with shuttle buses already full and no sign of any further transport available for those returning to Yenikapı.

After spending 30 minutes in a queue that appeared to be leading nowhere, one bus driver appeared to indicate that City supporters had in fact been waiting in a false line, and were directed all at once through the middle of a car park in no such order that had dozens of packed shuttle buses accelerating in multiple directions, fighting for a place on the single line exit slip road towards the main artery back into Istanbul – all of this without any lighting.

In amongst the panic of those seeking empty shuttle buses, one supporter battled to push a wheelchair with his companion seated across the rubble in front of the buses, begging to be offered assistance by one driver. With no UEFA personnel, or staff members in sight, he was once again left to struggle on his own until reaching one vehicle where fellow City supporters allowed him to be the first to board.

After finally making our way onto one of the very few remaining shuttle buses occupied by drivers with the rest seemingly left dormant and unoccupied, an hour-long wait to exit the stadium perimeter awaited – once again with no water, no toilet, no air conditioning, at 2AM local time.

Buses battled for position with no order to the increasingly congested queue to exit the car park, and no police or matchday personnel attempting to maintain order, leaving drivers to fend for themselves in finding a way towards the exit in a dark makeshift car park.

Desperate attempts were also made elsewhere by those who wanted to make their own way instead of relying on UEFA’s bus service, with some paying up to £200 for a taxi ride that usually costs £20. Ultimately however, it didn’t matter what route you took out of the stadium, you were getting stuck in traffic.

One group of supporters managed to secure a taxi by the side of the dual carriageway away from the arena, with the driver initially demanding £60, before raising his price to £100 when claiming that he did not know there would be traffic en route.

It must be stressed that the issues surrounding yet another Champions League final are as a direct result of UEFA’s wrongdoings and mismanagement. Istanbul showcased itself to many visiting as being an outstanding city with plenty to offer those in attendance, and Turkey as a whole being a country that welcomes football culture and has plenty of such culture to show.

Ultimately, everything boils down to two main points: The 2023 UEFA Champions League final should not have been held at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, and that UEFA have absolutely no consideration for supporter safety and welfare, but merely the visual spectacle that they can showcase on television screens.

Sky Sports say that they have approached UEFA for comment on the matter, and on some of the points experienced in this article.

Related Topics:

Trending