Sportsworld - 32 rows of 6 people x £1080 = £207,360 per flight and then there is no crew available? We missed the flight slot - 1 hr delay - unacceptable but by all accounts that was lucky. Absolutely no reason to take a charter again from the stories I have heard from others. Shame on you sports world.
Took a taxi to sultanahmet 40euros 1.5hrs couldn't face the shuttle.
Accommodation booked myself - wonderful £150 for 2 for 2 nights triple room next to blue mosque. Absolute winner. Glad I didn't get ripped off by sportsworld accommodation package which would have cost me an additional £1000 for 2 nights - unacceptable sports world.please call it ROP (rip off package) rater than VIP package moving forward.
I tried to use fan pass via CL app to take transport to Yenikapı - didn't work. Jumped the barriers and got to Yenikapi 2.30pm. Fan Pass didn't work. Unacceptable UEFA
Drink around the corner 100TL which was selling at 30TL 1 hr previously from corner shop. Acceptable supply and demand IMO and prompt service! 50TL to use hotel toilets - entrepreneurs! acceptable IMO. still cheaper than the fan hub and fan zone and toilet q was much smaller than stadium!
Planned to spend time at Hub before getting coach but q was over 300m so went straight into q - ridiculous.
q 30mins for bus to fan zone and then 2hr transfer. We were lucky. Buses had no air con, no windows, no toilets and a major health and safety issue. Unacceptable UEFA
UEFA checks were appalling / discriminatory and the staff were either untrained or uneducated - unacceptable UEFA.
We sang for over half of the journey and spirits were kept high - again lucky
Fan park - over 1 hr q for food. From 5pm - 7pm you could get heineken from a can for 7euros. unacceptable food q's and prices.
Walk from fan park to stadium and activation of ticket was seamless for us.
Went out at 29mins to get some food in stadium - made it back at 57mins. V lucky. service in stadium a disgrace. minimal staff, minimal food and after waiting 5 mins to pay I gave up and went back to my seat. Unacceptable staffing at stadium. Who cares about the fireworks and pre game performances - was that for the UEFA VIP's?
Then it was ectasy and loved every minute - but that was down to city!
Left after all the team had left the pitch and went to join what I knew would be a q. Absolute carnage. no lighting, no signs, no toilets, no organisation. Surprised there were no injuries.
Gave up and walked down the road for a "toilet break". Realised that the traffic out of car park was extensive so decided that the shuttle was not an option.
Walked down the dirt track, no lighting, no directions until I saw a group of police. Asked the directions for the metro and I was told it was closed by one and then another pointed down the hill. Absolute disgrace. Kept walking and at that point I truly would have walked back to the city. The Uefa buses had a separate exit - disgrace. Walked on further - probably 1km onto the actual motorway where cars were strewn on the hard shoulder. Finally got to a point where I could see the motorway split for city and airport. The airport q was at a standstill and the city route empty. I couldn't cross the motorway to walk to the route to the city. Seriously it doesn't take a genius that you need to have two separate routes out of the car park for each. Unacceptable.
Ended up flagging down a taxi in the middle of the road and paying £100 to take us into the city - sultanahmet . 20mins. Back having a kebab and beer on the table at 2am. V lucky.
Sportsworld flight back on Sunday on the way back was on time. No steps at Manchester airport so extra 15mins. V lucky as I believe that happened to most flights and also there was a lack of buses from flight to airport terminal. Sadly either sports world or the airport hadn't accounted for the disabled passengers who were left on our flight ? awaiting a lift that wasn't ordered? I cannot believe to imagine how difficult this whole experience would have been in a wheel chair. Maybe those issues relate to Manchester airport? Had hand package so no idea how long it took for bags to arrive.
Overall Friday to Sunday in Istanbul was an incredible experience that we will never forget. The actual UEFA organisation + Istanbul as a venue for a CL final was carnage. Buses breaking down / going the wrong way / over 4 hr transfers were common place amongst others / 4 hours to the airport or city post match was common place. Aside the UEFA carnage I I cannot overlook the sports world profiteering and poor organisation either.
Thank god we won and thank god the next two finals are at Wembley and Alliance but you simply cannot host a CL final without infrastructure and in the end that fault rests solely with UEFA. I will definitely would think twice before going on a sports world package again either. As for going back to Istanbul again - absolutely. As for seeing city lifting the trophy - absolutely.
Cost of a private boeing for 300+ people is £15k per hour and crew max £5k with expenses plus Manchester airport fees - sports world? profiteering from city fans? surely Ethiad could have lined up 4 planes going every 2-3 hours Thurs - Sat and back Sun-Monday? and charged the normal rate of £200 - £250 return and still made a profit? God knows how horrific the day trip sports world package for £1k was. As for the shuttles - why - why not just tell everyone how to get onto the train / metro with signage - even if one train is for city and one was for for milan? UEFA have clearly discriminated agents Man City fans by advising not to use the train/metro. As for the busses into the fan zone (if that was required) - close one lane of the motorway just for fans between 5pm - 7pm on game day. After the game separate routes for those going to the airport and those going to the city and again close the motorway to non match traffic when match ends until 2 hours after. Seriously it is not rocket science. UEFA seriously.
Sheikh Mansour you have done so much for this club and we thank you greatly for everything you have done. Paying for our transport to Porto CL final was a massive gesture of good will. Being free the problem with the coaches on the way back was not an issue - On this occasion however the fans have been manipulated. They have paid x4 face value for transport via sports world and been subject to the worst transport imaginable in Istanbul. Yes we have won the CL but we should never go through this farce again. You have the power to escalate this and find a solution. Please help the fans that make this club the club it is. Champions.
