Istanbul CL Final chaos | City Matters statement (p 133)

117 M34 said:
I don't think the shuttle buses were a bad idea.
It makes sense to split the fans up to reduce the risk of trouble.
If they were organises much better it would have been fine. They needed more buses to reduce the numbers on them and some sort of bus lane that stopped them getting stuck with all the other traffic and it would have been fine.
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Nowt wrong with the theory but if you (UEFA) advise people to use the buses and not taxis don’t block the bus exit route by letting 100’s of taxi’s park in the same area. Priority should have been given to those buses headed for the airports and then those going back to the city and then taxis.
 
jipblue said:
I was on one of the packed shuttle buses to IST Airport. Had nothing to drink since 7pm because of the issues getting drinks in the stadium and my auntie who is in her 60s was suffering. Notwithstanding the 2+ hours to get out of the car park, it was good to see all the blues looking out for each other, making sure everyone was ok. I think some old school city gallows humour got us through. Thank god we won because all that was stopping things getting dangerous in that car park was that the city fans were in a celebratory mood. It felt like that car park had been “built” in the last week as an afterthought. Club need to take it up with Uefa, but I doubt anything will come of it.
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When our bud pulled up to the fan park they were still rolling the road flat
 
The fixed seats were a disgrace giving no room whatsoever to pass. We travelled to the ground by metro but checked and it said metro closes midnight but seems wasn’t the case. Organisation after the game was non existent.Walked over a mile from car park and shared a mini bus with others just to get away from the area it was actually going back to centre but got dropped off before and then got another taxi to airport arriving at 3am for a 3-30 flight ,flight delayed as loads not made it. Considering it was free transport that journey cost £70 and a lot of stress. Saw a number of families struggling with wheelchairs on the shithole of a car park .30 minutes queue for a bottle of water or food(didn’t bother) place/ organisation /facilities not fit for purpose. Will UEFA care will they Fck. Shame media couldn’t experience it but the after game hospitality was probably in full swing.
 
What is even worse is that several people signposted there could be problems in advance of the game. We all knew it was a completely unacceptable stadium though doubt anyone had any idea it would be that bad. Would be interested in the take of Football Supporters Europe who were supposed to have had input. What did they say and what was response from uefa?
 
Istanbul was fantastic, and despite what one or 2 are saying thought the stadium was great
But the travelling to and from the stadium was a nightmare. Too far out of the City bit like having the fans in Manchester then having to travel to Liverpool to watch it.
Any turkish reading this i loved istanbul and will definately return and explore it properly.
Oh and a big shout out to the inter fans.
 
5 Hit Gibbon said:
Just in Antalya waiting for a flight home and checked my email. I’ve got a fan survey from UEFA about my experience at the final as apparently “fans are at the heart of their tournaments”!

I will make sure to fill this in when I get home!
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Don't do it mate. When they receive your response they will give you the finger whilst ticking the 'match engagement received' box to show that they are doing a good job. If anyone has any film of those poor people in wheelchairs trying to get over the rubble, try getting it online. Only way this travesty will be highlighted.
 
Both City and Inter need to come together as one here.
UEFA have some serious questions that need to be answered through an independent body.

Having arrived home today, I’ve tried to process the events of the last 3 days, my head is still spinning, from what I had just witnessed.

From the moment we arrived at SAW airport to departure this morning,
It’s where East meets West on an unimaginable scale, a City with the largest population in Europe, from historical beauty to Cheetham hill on steroids, a cultural melting pot, it has everything and more.
UEFA have been preparing for this event, on and off for the last 3 years, and failed miserably on every level.
Following on from last years disaster, they have learned nothing, and the fact no one was killed last night remains a minor miracle.
Everyone has a story to tell, from the misinformation of shuttle buses and metro before the game, causing widespread panic.
Following a 2 hour taxi ride to some former desolate wasteland,
watching elderly and disabled having to make a 4km hike from as close as taxis could get to the stadium, with a total lack of signage and direction for both sets of supporters, made you realise that we the foot soldiers are totally irrelevant and insignificant, to a corporate world and others that held the largest portion of available tickets.
Outside of the ticket perimeter fences consisted of total 3 portaloos with over an hour waiting time
the fanzone ran dry over 2 hour before kick off, making our way to the stadium early, through narrow temporary fencing, with trip hazards along the way.
At the food concessions inside the ground, they consisted of one guy flipping burgers, with a 90 minute long queue that also ran out of burgers 60 minutes before kick off, soft drinks charged by the centre litres, everything was designed to rip off the match going supporters with total disregard.
The events following on from the game took a downward spiral of mass confusion and non direction from any authority, police and stewards stood by and allowed the inevitable to happen,my group eventually managed to find our way on to a bus, that contravened any heath and safety rules, if indeed there are any… after 90 mins of standing still in stifling heat with no AC, people became agitated, getting off the bus to make their own way, buses were blocked from exiting whilst corporate hospitality, were allowed to get ahead of the busses.
Meanwhile some of our stragglers, elderly and wheelchairs wandered aimlessly trying to get on any transport possible.
The blame lies completely with UEFA and someone is culpable, questions need to answered.
Istanbul has so much to offer, but was let down last night by a corrupt organisation.

Having said all that, I would do it all again in a heartbeat, knowing what I know now.
 
bladdered said:
Don't do it mate. When they receive your response they will give you the finger whilst ticking the 'match engagement received' box to show that they are doing a good job. If anyone has any film of those poor people in wheelchairs trying to get over the rubble, try getting it online. Only way this travesty will be highlighted.
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UEFA will prioritise the important aspects of the match day experience when carrying out their post match debrief .... standard of accommodation provided to UEFA officials, size of wedge offered, speed of setting up and dismantling pre match firework display/anthem singer and those fire blasting thingies, how good the presentation podium looked. Anything else like fan safety, comfort and convenience .... who cares?
 
Everyone I spoke to on the way home was complaining about the shuttle busses.
As stated it was a nightmare getting out of the carpark at the end.
What made it worse for me was when I eventually got on a bus I asked was he going to SAW airport.
He said he was but I ended up being dropped off at the other one miles away from SAW!
Luckily iI got on a shuttle bus in the airport soon after which got me to the right airport eventually!
Luckily I had a good few hours spare with my flight not till 11-10 this morning.
 
The club need make an official complaint to UEFA. (what little it will do)
 
Need to change the title of this thread to cover all the other aspects of UEFA’s shambolic organisation of the whole matchday experience. As well as the shuttle bus fiasco there was the overzealous multiple security checks with inflatables not being allowed in, ridiculously overpriced and disgusting food and drink and random rip off pricing from surly staff (I was overcharged by €12.50 on top of already stupid pricing and because it was by card they wouldn’t correct it), inadequate outlets leading to huge queues for everything (90 minutes for a cold hot dog in my case) and beer running out 3 hours before kick off, no access to water without queueing for over an hour to purchase a small container for 150 lira when it’s 10 lira outside. The stadium wasn’t fit for purpose either. In a stupidly inaccessible location with seating miles from the pitch with hugely uncomfortable seats and ridiculous pricing for all but the cheapest tickets, filthy flooded toilets (that fortunately didn’t need to often because we were dehydrated due to the lack of water). An absolute disgrace.

Received a survey from UEFA about the whole experience but the questions were carefully selected to prevent any criticism of UEFA or the stadium services and were mostly focused on Istanbul as a football city. Didn’t bother submitting it.
 
feedmpenzaandhewillscore said:
Being stood up on a bus for nearly 4 hours packed in was like slowly being crucified. Then dropped off at the fan zone to try and find the hotel, grifter taxi drivers plucking daft fare priced out of the air and only wanting euros rather than lire.
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I've got to say Istanbul has many, many charms but I'm sick of them literally making up prices as they go along.
 
deafmanstevo said:
Istanbul was fantastic, and despite what one or 2 are saying thought the stadium was great
But the travelling to and from the stadium was a nightmare. Too far out of the City bit like having the fans in Manchester then having to travel to Liverpool to watch it.
Any turkish reading this i loved istanbul and will definately return and explore it properly.
Oh and a big shout out to the inter fans.
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It was exiting the bus park that was the issue, especially as all the corporates got priority exiting
Once on the motorway with police blocking side roads it was fine ,but if the bus was to have crashed due to overcrowded we wouldn't be here to tell the tale
 
west didsblue said:
Need to change the title of this thread to cover all the other aspects of UEFA’s shambolic organisation of the whole matchday experience. As well as the shuttle bus fiasco there was the overzealous multiple security checks with inflatables not being allowed in, ridiculously overpriced and disgusting food and drink and random rip off pricing from surly staff (I was overcharged by €12.50 on top of already stupid pricing and because it was by card they wouldn’t correct it), inadequate outlets leading to huge queues for everything (90 minutes for a cold hot dog in my case) and beer running out 3 hours before kick off, no access to water without queueing for over an hour to purchase a small container for 150 lira when it’s 10 lira outside. The stadium wasn’t fit for purpose either. In a stupidly inaccessible location with seating miles from the pitch with hugely uncomfortable seats and ridiculous pricing for all but the cheapest tickets, filthy flooded toilets (that fortunately didn’t need to often because we were dehydrated due to the lack of water). An absolute disgrace.

Received a survey from UEFA about the whole experience but the questions were carefully selected to prevent any criticism of UEFA or the stadium services and were mostly focused on Istanbul as a football city. Didn’t bother submitting it.
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Don't forget the fan park running out of beer 4 hours before kick off and the 2km queues to get into the stadium as well. It looks very nice on TV but a mess to get in and out of even if it has been well managed. It would be difficult to do with 100 people in bibs directing things in good lighting, but it was a free for all.
 
mcfc01 said:
Everyone I spoke to on the way home was complaining about the shuttle busses.
As stated it was a nightmare getting out of the carpark at the end.
What made it worse for me was when I eventually got on a bus I asked was he going to SAW airport.
He said he was but I ended up being dropped off at the other one miles away from SAW!
Luckily iI got on a shuttle bus in the airport soon after which got me to the right airport eventually!
Luckily I had a good few hours spare with my flight not till 11-10 this morning.
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Shuttle bus return just dropped us off somewhere, not in the fan zone where we picked it up ! Just pulled up shouted Finish , didn’t know where we was at 3.30am two females just left alone , eventually flagged a taxi said 400tl was knackered so said ok , nightmare got back at 4.15 am so EUFA do one again ! Anyway in the Edinburgh bar today and the Dubliner tonight , home tomorrow CTID !
 
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