June 16 – The mayor of England’s Greater Manchester area, Andy Burnham (pictured), says it was a “disgrace” that Manchester City fans had to walk miles to get to the stadium for last Saturday’s Champions League final in Istanbul.
Burnham accused organisers of “massively” letting down English football supporters “year after year”.
He made the comments after reports that both City and Inter Milan fans had to walk up to five miles to get to Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium which is located some distance outside the city.
“Uefa – what a disgrace, leaving Manchester City fans to walk miles to get to the ground. No transport, no nothing,” Burnham charged.
“We saw what they did last year in Paris and all the arrangements there that failed thousands and thousands of Liverpool supporters and Real Madrid supporters,” he added.
According to reports, both official UEFA shuttle buses and over-priced taxis were brought to a standstill by local traffic, with many fans having to make the journey on foot.
That was as much down to Istanbul’s infrastructural logistics as anything else but Burnham added: “They pick these grounds, I think, for these games on the basis of politics or who they please,” Burnham added in a radio interview. “They give no regard for the arrangements of the travelling supporters.”
Burnham said UEFA needed to “up your game and treat people properly when they travel thousands of miles around the world and pay your ticket prices.”
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