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

bladdered said:
The dippers in Paris get a full refund for their tickets from UEFA. While our own club won't even recognise we had issues in Istanbul.

https://www.skysports.com/football/...er-dangerous-organisational-failures-in-paris
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It's a disgrace UEFA and our own club have swept it under the carpet. They care even less now we are selling out a Friday night away at Spurs and sold out a charity shield game with no trains at a ridiculous time. Their job is done, thousands of new fans to take up the slack.
 
I think City Matters have done an absolutely brilliant job on behalf of all match going fans. Their professionalism displayed throughout this process has been exemplary.
Contrast their approach with that of our neighbours up the M62. Whilst it’s disappointing that neither the club or UEFA could issue apologies in public, who knows what has been said behind closed doors between the 2 organisations. Let’s see if things are fixed next time.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
I think City Matters have done an absolutely brilliant job on behalf of all match going fans. Their professionalism displayed throughout this process has been exemplary.
Contrast their approach with that of our neighbours up the M62. Whilst it’s disappointing that neither the club or UEFA could issue apologies in public, who knows what has been said behind closed doors between the 2 organisations. Let’s see if things are fixed next time.
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Sadly we see in every day life, highlighted most recently with the Post Office, organisations don't change their behaviours or admit liability without public pressure or those with power pressuring them to do so.

UEFA new full well what was going to happen weeks before, hence they wanted us to head to the stadium 8 hours before. It was clear the laid hardcore was not suitable for disabled access. I got there before the vast majority and still there was a 45 minute queue for food. Areas of shade were already full and no provision in place for exiting after the match.

The fact City have not made a statement shows where there loyalities are. There would have been numerous City staff caught up in the chaos so City from their own staff would have been fully aware of what unfolded.

They have kept it quiet and suffocated the story on UEFA’s behalf, with the longer the clock ticks the less newsworthy it becomes.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
I think City Matters have done an absolutely brilliant job on behalf of all match going fans. Their professionalism displayed throughout this process has been exemplary.
Contrast their approach with that of our neighbours up the M62. Whilst it’s disappointing that neither the club or UEFA could issue apologies in public, who knows what has been said behind closed doors between the 2 organisations. Let’s see if things are fixed next time.
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I can guess what's been said behind closed doors. UEFA "Don't mention the shit show in Istanbul and we'll give you a CL final at the Etihad". City "Yes, yes, yes Mr UEFA and can I lick your greasy arse one more time?"
 
To be honest I was pretty sure what was coming it's Turkey they just about managed to organise the piss up in the brewery. Didn't quite expect the chaos post game half 3 in morning arrive back in town took the shine off it but bar still open a 9 in morning eased the pain :-) Winning certainly helped.
 
bladdered said:
I can guess what's been said behind closed doors. UEFA "Don't mention the shit show in Istanbul and we'll give you a CL final at the Etihad". City "Yes, yes, yes Mr UEFA and can I lick your greasy arse one more time?"
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I think it will be more balanced than that. There are two learnings as far as I see it.
1. UEFA should only appoint a stadium with proven and tested transport and facilities
2. UEFA and the participating clubs have a responsibility to apply strong oversight to the transport, ticketing and catering arrangements for any final.
That the club have said nothing to the fans about the final is very very poor. My main point was City Matters did all they could and we fans should applaud their efforts.
 
Is anyone really surprised by our clubs stance? When have the club ever supported the fans in pivate or in public? The club is so distant and aloof from the fans it's unbelievable. I wonder where this cloak of silence by the club on almost every matter is coming from? Khaldoon, Soriano or both? And everyone below them adheres to it.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
I think City Matters have done an absolutely brilliant job on behalf of all match going fans. Their professionalism displayed throughout this process has been exemplary.
Contrast their approach with that of our neighbours up the M62. Whilst it’s disappointing that neither the club or UEFA could issue apologies in public, who knows what has been said behind closed doors between the 2 organisations. Let’s see if things are fixed next time.
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Wembley? ;-)
 
franksinatra said:
If it was not for CM and the work they put in the issues in Istanbul would have been swept under the carpet. They are the ones who have collated the evidence, written the report and continue to put pressure on City to issue a public statement.

The failing is not with CM but our club.
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I agree and I wasn't blaming CM reps.

The club is merely paying lip service to engaging with supporters via City Matters and after all the work they put in trying to get accountability for the Istanbul fiasco it's piss poor that the club won't issue any public statement on it.
 
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm fucking raging about this. The absolute shitshow we had to endure, before, during and after the match was scandalous.

The fact that we all had the time of our lives DESPITE what UEFA put us through, shouldn't mask what went on out there.

As @paulchapo says above, its a fucking good job we won. I shudder to think what would have happened if we hadn't.

Shame on you City, I hardly recognise what you've become. Family club with deep roots in the community? My fucking arse.
 
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Corky said:
The main thing is choosing a venue that gets capacity crowds on a regular basis and has a good record of coping.

Not a stadium which sells out every 20 years and there are locals looking to rip off the fans as much as possible, in a location 20 miles away from the hub of the city it is supposed to serve.
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Don't think Old Trafford meets UEFA's criteria fortunately.
 
So the scousers turn up with more fans than tickets at the behest of their gobshite manager and generally act like cunts as per the norm.
Meanwhile we turn up at our final mixing with the locals no trouble with opposing fans etc etc. but we're the ones treated like an afterthought.
Guess who's fans get the refund y(could)miu.
 
Dodge said:
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm fucking raging about this. The absolute shitshow we had to endure, before, during and after the match was scandalous.

The fact that we all the time of our lives DESPITE what UEFA put us through, shouldn't mask what went on out there.

As @paulchapo says above, its a fucking good job we won. I shudder to think what would have happened if we hadn't.

Shame on you City, I hardly recognise what you've become. Family club with deep roots in the community? My fucking arse.
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I happily didn't go. Although everything was an exorbitant price I could have paid it. I knew the organisation would be a shambles though, bordering on the dangerous and I'm just too old these days to put myself through it. If I'm paying €500 for a ticket I'd expect that to come with safe, fast and frequent travel to and from the stadium at the very least. UEFA have fucked up every single final they have organised. People died at Heysel and it was a miracle they didn't in Paris. I'm surprised given the heat, lack of refreshments and the age of a lot of our fanbase some didn't at our game. They are a disgrace and so are our club for their lack of concern and action at the shambles they were part of.
 
I love we’re looking after people who had a rotten time in Istanbul. Some missed the match and or were late, others had horrendous trouble getting too and from with accessibility issues. That can’t happen and that’s why City Matters is so important.

But there were a lot of people there who still turned it into something special. Memories forever of the trek to the ground and back, stories that will become local bar legend and a country and people who almost for every story told, welcomed us, looked after us and made it the weekend it was. Things that can never happen staying in the Holiday Inn Express outside Wembley this year. It was unique and I sometimes feel, perhaps because I was lucky, this gets lost. For the vast majority, it was inconvenient at worst. Let’s keep our weight behind the people who it really impacted and not dilute their problem. It will be difficult to recreate the atmosphere of that final, pre match in the alleys, in the sterility Western Europe at least. If the place was better organised and less chaotic, we wouldn’t have had what we gained in the tiny mazes around Nevizade. Nights that will stay with me for life. Give and take for the vast majority.

UEFA should be held to account, great work for the people who didn’t get the experience they deserved, City Matters
 
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how soon is now said:
So the scousers turn up with more fans than tickets at the behest of their gobshite manager and generally act like cunts as per the norm.
Meanwhile we turn up at our final mixing with the locals no trouble with opposing fans etc etc. but we're the ones treated like an afterthought.
Guess who's fans get the refund y(could)miu.
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Thank god we didn’t make that final. I can only imagine how shit it would have been mixing with them.
 
My abiding memory is leaving the ground that night with the police & stewards stopping us to allow a cavalcade of black presteen Mercedes Wagons, full of UEFA officials, to speed past us with a heavy motorbike police presence .... no doubt on their way to their luxurious 5* hotels along with their contemptuous "let them eat cake" attitude on us peasants outside ...

We were very fortunate that night, to find a local to drive us to our hotel for £100 which still took almost 2 hours .... no doubt Mr Čeferin & co. were fast asleep in their King sized silk sheeted beds by then .... so well done to CM for representing the voiceless fan, but I fear little will change ... they simply don't care ...

In spite of them all .... for me, my son & brother .... it remains one of the greatest days of my life ... they can take our dignity but they will never take our memories ...
 
M18CTID said:
Somewhat surprisingly, The Mail actually did a huge piece on it:

www.dailymail.co.uk

UEFA refuse to engage on nightmare for fans at Champions League final

INVESTIGATION BY ROB DRAPER: UEFA have astonishingly declined to comment on the logistical chaos at last weekend's Champions League final.
www.dailymail.co.uk
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Agree they did as you say,surprisingly support us, would be great if a follow up article ,stating how nothing has moved forward,and asking why City and Uefa have not reacted at all
 
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