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

[Blue Mist]

The reason it should be done now is so that the organisers are aware of the risks so they have the option to address or ignore them. If it happens next time and someone loses their life because of it then European law (under which UEFA operate) will enable a route to potential charges, prosecution and more. The organisers at Hillsborough ignored earlier warning signs too.

City will blame Uefa who will blame the Turkish authorities who will blame the Istanbul Council who will blame Yusaf Ahmed the temporary acting Superintendent of the bus company, he will investigate and sack his cousin he employed on a 1 month contract and who actually left 3 days ago anyway.
Everyone will pat themselves on the back and tell the media that lessons have been learnt. The media will ask for 25 extra passes for next year's final and will report that what few problems there were have now been rectified.

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

City will blame Uefa who will blame the Turkish authorities who will blame the Istanbul Council who will blame Yusaf Ahmed the temporary acting Superintendent of the bus company, he will investigate and sack his cousin he employed on a 1 month contract and who actually left 3 days ago anyway.
Everyone will pat themselves on the back and tell the media that lessons have been learnt. The media will ask for 25 extra passes for next year's final and will report that what few problems there were have now been rectified.

Yes they probably will but the point is that the issues need recording for future reference. Treating disabled people in the way they did was wrong and no modern country should accept that. When the time comes that UEFA award it to Turkey again then clubs that have been affected should be able to challenge that award with the evidence at hand. You can’t change the past but they should be looking to improve the future, but judging by what dippers are saying not much has improved at that stadium in 18 years.

 

[jordblue]

If Uefa can charge £600 for a ticket, why can’t they give out free water to fans? | Will Dean

The problems I and so many other Manchester City fans experienced in Istanbul made me wonder – how is Uefa so bad at this?

www.theguardian.com

Captured the day quite well. Awful fan experience.

The fan park (25 minute walk away from the stadium) was akin to a refugee camp. I won't talk about my experience as I think they've been captured quite well above.

Has anyone found an email address for UEFA yet? I feel a stern email coming on this week.

 

[Lord Lion]

Has anyone who was there actually told the club though? Or just, quite naturally, complained on here or to their mates?
If Danny Wilson hasn’t been told by people who were affected he can only report that. Anything else is hearsay.
Just being Devil’s Advocate.

I have emailed Danny Wilson and have also told my friends to do likewise. A lad on our bus back to Yenikapi was in a wheelchair - no surprises it was damaged due to the conditions of the carpark! I have asked
Danny Wilson what action the club will be taking on our behalf.

 

[Blue Mist]

Yes they probably will but the point is that the issues need recording for future reference. Treating disabled people in the way they did was wrong and no modern country should accept that. When the time comes that UEFA award it to Turkey again then clubs that have been affected should be able to challenge that award with the evidence at hand. You can’t change the past but they should be looking to improve the future, but judging by what dippers are saying not much has improved at that stadium in 18 years.

How long ago was Hillsborough? Even after lies were uncovered was anyone ever brought to book? We had court cases but everyone was found innocent and no one at the FA was dismissed.
All seater stadiums were forced on us, even though standing was not the issue and alcohol 'within sight of the pitch' was banned. Wow.
I only have one answer that will work. Don't go. I am seriously considering sacking off ALL Champs League matches as I cannot keep putting money into that disgraceful cartel called Uefa.

 

[Pete R]

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.

You're right about the chaos but you missed 28 mins of game queuing for food? If that was the case you should have let someone else have your ticket. That's the trouble with football these days. I'd say you need to get your priorities right.

 

[west didsblue]

With all due respect, as fans in a foreign land, at a major event, with unfamiliar Policing and stewarding, in a place without language clarity and likely barriers of culture, following the advice of CITY and UEFA is probably a good idea. If I had researched the maps, I would have hired huskies, a sled and a vanguard of Sherpa guides to get from an airport to that stadium, and fanzones.

The metro at Istanbul SAW was labelled as Inter and wasn't even clear where it was. Getting past the first wave of taxi drivers haggling to a bus labelled CITY and Yemikapi seemed a simple option. In hindsight it...

Fortunately for me I heard the stories of the huge queues at Yenikapi, the shit fan zones, and buses taking hours so we ignored the advice and got the Metro there. It was a bit crowded but tolerable. Didn’t even bother looking for shuttle buses on the way back when I saw the size of crowds heading down a dusty road into the darkness, and was in Taksim before 2 after leaving the stadium well after 12:30. The Metro didn’t stop at most stations and was rapid. That stadium should never be used again unless there is some serious investment in proper transport infrastructure.

 

[hammocity]

If any City Matters reps were there and suffered like the rest of us then perhaps they could raise our concerns with the club.
Then the club can either ignore our concerns or pass them to UEFA and they will ignore them.
I said on the tickets thread a few weeks ago: The stadium capacity, airport capacity and hotel accommodation capacity are the only things considered when deciding where to stage major finals.
They might also consider how recently the city has staged one, but that's another that doesn't involve fan concerns.
We need more finals in western Europe as that is where around 95% of recent finalists have come from. It might indicate a degree of arrogance but it will also reduce miles travelled and hence reduce atmospheric pollution.
London may have issues and we know escaping from the car parks can be a nightmare, but there are several train and tube stations in the area and lots of parking via various web sites. Attaturk Stadium had nothing for miles around and only one Metro line. Chaos (for fans) was guaranteed.

Agree but don’t be under any illusions, the train fares and hotels in London next year will be financially eye watering.

 

[mexico1970]

Agree but don’t be under any illusions, the train fares and hotels in London next year will be financially eye watering.

ebike and a tent mate ;)

 

[hammocity]

I have emailed Danny Wilson and have also told my friends to do likewise. A lad on our bus back to Yenikapi was in a wheelchair - no surprises it was damaged due to the conditions of the carpark! I have asked
Danny Wilson what action the club will be taking on our behalf.

There was a young disabled ginger haired lad on our bus, we made room for him to “park” his wheelchair, he had a young female with him who was obviously his helper. He shouted out on the bus “I need a pee” but I doubt the driver heard him but he wasn’t alone and the bus didn’t stop once on a 2 hour journey, felt for those.

As we got to the coach park a lot of fans were scrambling to get off the bus and there was no sign of any stewards available to help the disabled so 2 of us pushed the wheelchair to the exit but it was about a 2 foot drop, 2 other blues then helped us lower the chair onto the ground. It was still a fair schlep to the entrance in a quite high temperature so would have been a difficult walk for the female assistant pushing the chair. Surely there should have been better provisions to help the disabled.