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

[mcfcfxp]

Travel back from stadium on the Metro. No queues. UEFA nonsense as usual

We did that as well

 

[mcfcfxp]

Every word of this is spot on mate. Can you imagine if anything serious had happened at that stadium no emergency services could’ve accessed it. Crammed shuttles with folk stood up for hours was a disgrace.

Totally agree was a shambles

 

[xmusampa]

Have to agree we met some really nice locals and had some great experiences with average locals cheering for little old city…. But the sour taste of the constant rip offs will be long remembered… absolutely got stitched on the first night by a restaurant that charged us a small fortune for Kebeb, salad and 4 x beers

Fairly sure one of my pictures in Nevizade St shows a pickpocket in mid-crime on Friday evening

Closest I have come to being pickpocketed but was very lucky to have hand on outside and felt him teasing out but although I shouted him out he managed to do one. Bet loads weren’t as lucky!

 

[maccieblue]

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.

The only thing I will back them up on about your post is they did say the fan zone would stop serving drinks 2 hours before kick off
The rest I agree with you

 

[xmusampa]

The only thing I will back them up on about your post is they did say the fan zone would stop serving drinks 2 hours before kick off
The rest I agree with you

They shut the bars at 7 so again UEFA not quite doing what they communicated to fans.

 

[Ric]

We got the Metro to and from the game, and glad we did despite the (stupid) advice from UEFA not to do so. Everything else was a shambles.

 

[didsburyblu]

That should of been the greatest day in our history. Instead it was ruined by incompetence. Every City fan was drained after the game we Walked for two and a half hours after the game before finally getting the metro after running out of so called UEFA options. Any neutral getting on would assume City lost as the city fans were just out on their feet on the metro.


Never in a million years would I ever have thought after winning the champions league my focus would be on just get me back to my hotel and my bed but that's the reality for thousands of Blues who spent hundreds to attend what should have been a spectacle only to get caught up in some pilot for the plight of third world countries!

 

[goater1985]

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.

Sadly you're absolutely spot on. What a shit show it was.

 

[mcfcmatt]

I've got to say Istanbul has many, many charms but I'm sick of them literally making up prices as they go along.

Checked out this morning 6:30am
Id arranged our match transfers through the hotel when I booked the room a few weeks ago. €200 return, wasn’t too bothered as the car was nice and comfortable, was a people carrier. I paid on check in., cash.
Check out this morning guy try’s telling me at reception I need to pay for the transfer it’s not been paid for. I insisted it had, someone else comes over after telling him I’ve already paid he says yes you have but you owe us for 2 fantas.
Id paid for everything I’d had there which wasn’t much! As I got it.
Put nothing on the room.

I simply said I’m busy, going to catch my plane have a good day.
Walked off.
Tossers

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

Checked out this morning 6:30am
Id arranged our match transfers through the hotel when I booked the room a few weeks ago. €200 return, wasn’t too bothered as the car was nice and comfortable, was a people carrier. I paid on check in., cash.
Check out this morning guy try’s telling me at reception I need to pay for the transfer it’s not been paid for. I insisted it had, someone else comes over after telling him I’ve already paid he says yes you have but you owe us for 2 fantas.
Id paid for everything I’d had there which wasn’t much! As I got it.
Put nothing on the room.

I simply said I’m busy, going to catch my plane have a good day.
Walked off.
Tossers

I had a taxi driver tell me a ride was 120 and when I agreed without a fuss he upped it to 150. I gave him 120 and got out while he shouted after me. It's only a quid but I also don't like having the piss taken out of me. Would have been fine if he'd given that as his original price. Just mental really.