Just back from the match/Athens fans with tickets pepper sprayed

[Guest Barne's Rap]

From the Guardian

 

http://football.guardian.co.uk/championsle...2086894,00.html

 

Sounds like some had the worst day ever. Can't believe only a handful of bars showed it, meaning some of those fans with a genuine ticket probably didn't even get to see the game on tv...savage.

Edited May 24, 2007 by Macca

[psl]

c***

 

GAILLARD BLAMES REDS FANS

Posted 24/05/07 09:09EmailPrintSave

 

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8...2145406,00.html

 

UEFA's head of communications William Gaillard has blamed the behaviour of Liverpool fans for ticketing and disorder problems in the Champions League final against AC Milan.

 

Rafael Benitez's side went down 2-1 to Milan on the night but supporters were the biggest losers as many with genuine tickets were kept out of the Athens Olympic Stadium, while others reportedly managed to force their way in with forged tickets or none at all.

 

But while Reds fans, some of whom were sprayed with tear gas as unhappy groups protested outside the ground, expressed their displeasure with UEFA's organisation of the event, Gaillard turned the blame squarely on unruly supporters.

 

"It was a suitable venue. It is the stadium where the 2004 European Championships were held and where all the games of the (Greek) national team are held.

 

"Unfortunately in Britain it is the behaviour. Liverpool fans are responsible for the problems before, during and after the game.

 

"(They were) trying to go over the barriers to get into the stadium without tickets, which is not the behaviour we can condone. It is very easy to say 'this is not a football stadium'.

 

"Milan supporters didn't face the same problems because they didn't behave the same way."

 

Gaillard defended a system that did not include the use of turnstiles and also praised the work of Greek police in containing flashpoints to a minimum.

 

"In terms of fans pushing and attempting to get over the barriers, with turnstiles there could have been a tragedy.

 

"At one point the police were overwhelmed and it is much to their credit that there were no dangerous incidents."

 

Gaillard went on to admit he felt sorry for fans who had acted in good faith and been disappointed but absolved UEFA of any blame.

 

"I am very sorry for what has happened to fans who had regulation tickets but at the same time there is a collective responsibility for behaviour. Some are obviously honest fans who got tickets and obeyed the rules but because of those who did not they found themselves in an uncomfortable position.

 

"Some responsibility we (UEFA) could accept is we did not choose a stadium with 250,000 seats, but they don't exist."

 

Former Conservative leader Michael Howard disagreed with Gaillard, claiming the Olympic Stadium was not ready to cope with the match.

 

"I didn't think the match should have been held at the stadium. It's not a football stadium and is not equipped to cope with that number of people.

 

"Ticket checks were a joke. Many people with valid tickets were not allowed in.

 

"That is not acceptable and UEFA really need to look at their procedures and make sure everything is all in order."

[allez les rouges]

i have never in my life witnesses such a shambolic attemp to organise a game of fooking football. everything from the airport, to tickets, to entering the stadium, to getting home.

 

i had a genuine ticket. i simply walked in! the fooking airport was so bad you just couldnt beleive it. first of all, it was a f***ing tent in the middle of a field. secondly any just descened on it even thouh you had to have a particular colour wrist band. thirdly in the end we were left to organise ourselves onto the plane. busses would come, some people would shout the flight number, people would get ont. they were were told its a different flight, then some poor sods got to the plane to told them that there plane was full and should come back today!!! the f***ing staff didnt check boarding cards! no doubt some poor sods in are ireland are somewhere else in the world right now!

Edited May 24, 2007 by allezlesrouge

[Rex Ham]

sounds exactly like istanbul. shocking.

[LondonLiverpoolFan]

Did everyone that went from here get into the game? Listening to 5 live this morning there were alot of fans locked out as the stadium was 'full' even though they had genuine tickets.

[allez les rouges]

  Rex Ham said:

sounds exactly like istanbul. shocking.

 

istanbu was 10 times better mate. at least we were allowed to use the airport! we didnt have that luxury this time. nothing to eat or drink standing in the pitch black for hours with knowhere to sit after you have been on our feet for over 24 hours.

 

every so often a few packed bottles of water would be dropped into the middle, and next thing there was a free for fall to get water. f***ing disgrace

[Tosh]

BBC

 

So UEFA are blaming LFC fans for causing trouble when they had a mixture of genuine, forged or no tickets because the stadium was full. The stadium was full because UEFA had managed to let people into the ground with, er no or forged tickets.

 

And they never allocated enough tickets in the first place.

 

I really do think UEFA don't like English clubs.

[Rex Ham]

  allezlesrouge said:

istanbu was 10 times better mate. at least we were allowed to use the airport! we didnt have that luxury this time. nothing to eat or drink standing in the pitch black for hours with knowhere to sit after you have been on our feet for over 24 hours.

 

every so often a few packed bottles of water would be dropped into the middle, and next thing there was a free for fall to get water. f***ing disgrace

 

Christ..sounds like an aid drop in a refugee camp!

[reddragon]

i was outside the ground last night and was disgusted by the organisation of entry to the game. The policed funelled us into a tiny gap at the last checkpoint. I was with my dad, brother and a mate, and we all got seperated. My brother and i met up on the other side of the checkpoint, and were then horified to see the police move a coach to cut the gap to about 1 mtr wide. The pushing and shoving left a fair few people injured as they finally got through, after being battoned and teargassed as they were pushed from behind. Nobody was told what was going on for ages and the police obviously had no contingency plans in place to deal with this kind of scenario.

 

Personally, i think the fact that nobody was seriously injured is the miracle of athens. Maybe because of our past we have more knowledge of how crushes can easily turn horrible, and this helped the situation on the ground.

[Mondavi]

Undoubtedly the greek and uefa authorities appear to have been out of their depth in terms of handling the large volume of fans.

 

 

However, any liverpool fan who tried to get into that ground last night without a ticket is a C**T. I don't think it's much of a stretch to suggest that if ONLY fans with legitimate tickets turned up at the ground, there would likely have been no trouble at all.

[reddragon]

obviously thats true mate. However, a lot of the fakes doing the rounds were VERY convincing, and as we all thought that there would be 20,000 plus on the black market yesterday it's not all the fualt of those who entered the game with fakes.

 

Before you ask, I had a genuine ticket after having 7 creds.

[cymrococh]

  LondonLiverpoolFan said:

Did everyone that went from here get into the game? Listening to 5 live this morning there were alot of fans locked out as the stadium was 'full' even though they had genuine tickets.

ayline didn't get in.

[Mondavi]

  reddragon said:

obviously thats true mate. However, a lot of the fakes doing the rounds were VERY convincing, and as we all thought that there would be 20,000 plus on the black market yesterday it's not all the fualt of those who entered the game with fakes.

 

Before you ask, I had a genuine ticket after having 7 creds.

 

fair point about the fakes, and the rumours of returned milan tickets etc etc.

 

 

it's the people that try to get in without any ticket (real or fake) that I aim my comments at largely. You know the ones, those with anything that vaguely looks like it might be a ticket, or those who try to climb barriers and get in anyway they can. Do they not understand the potential safety consequences ? Well, obviously they don't, and to be honest I find it upsetting more than anything else - totally irresponsible.

[Cam]

Not PC but footballing backwaters shouldn't get big time cup finals. Places like Turkey, Greece, Russia may have big domestic matches but that doesn't mean they can organise them. UEFA want English-style policing & stewarding and then gives finals to countries who are as far removed from it as is possible.

 

They should only go to places like England, Scotland, France, Spain, Holland etc. And while they may not be a footballing backwater Italy can feck off too.

[LondonLiverpoolFan]

  Paul Caruso said:

ayline didn't get in.

 

Feckin hell that's shocking. I take it she had a genuine ticket as well?

[Stew F]

Just be thankful we werent playing the Mancs.

We'd have been banned out of Europe for life!

[suzyv]

You can tell by the statement from uafa that they have no intention of reviewing their ticketing policy or their choice of stadiums in the future. They only problem now will be when we get into another final the police will be expecting trouble and things may be a lot harder for our fans. I would also like to say to the c---s who produced the forgeries I hope the money brings you no happiness.

[johngibo YPC]

It was a joke

some people said there tickets were checked with UV light but we just walked in.

my mate didn't even take his ticket out of a clear folder. It is pristine!!

Forget about fake tickets. i know a fella who got in with a blue bank card!

The when they realised too many people were in they s*** themselves and started tear gassing people

[Guest Barne's Rap]

F*ck I feel truly gutted for those who had to put up with that s*** and didn't even get to see the game with a real ticket...what a f*cking shambles

 

Sack UEFA.

[cymrococh]

  LondonLiverpoolFan said:

Feckin hell that's shocking. I take it she had a genuine ticket as well?

yeah. she was stuck outside some bar not being able to see the screen during the game.

[D.Boon]

Surprise, surprise UEFA blaming everyone else

[Eskimo]

  Barne said:

F*ck I feel truly gutted for those who had to put up with that s*** and didn't even get to see the game with a real ticket...what a f*cking shambles

 

Sack UEFA.

 

UEFA fecked up no doubt but I know I'd be fecking fuming if I bumped into one of our own if he told me he sneaked in when I was locked out holding a genuine ticket in my hand.

Edited May 24, 2007 by Eskimo

[Dave_the_Red]

SHOCK

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...ool/6686867.stm

[Sion]

If they'd done their job correctly there wouldn't have been trouble. The whole thing from ticket allocation to entering the ground was a huge farce.

[yellow jumper]

uefa (and the club for that matter) need to look at the way they've handled the distribution of tickets in this case. as well as where and how they organise these events.

 

from my experience blagging goes on at most of the european aways to some extent or another. what happened last night was always on the cards. echo your sentiments on this too Eskimo.