Manchester United Football Club are reviewing the situation surrounding their message to fans in Lyon. Football Fans Europe has criticised the “so disproportionate” and “unacceptable” use of tear gas by police after Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final.
The first match, which took place in France on Thursday, was attended by 2,800 fans who were ordered by local authorities to go to a convention centre 13 miles from the city centre to receive wristbands before boarding buses to the stadium.
The significant costs and inconveniences associated with these requirements were compounded by poor public transport services and long queues at pick-up and drop-off points before being transported to Groupama Stadium.
Fresh problems emerged after the 2-2 draw with Lyon, with police using tear gas after fans tried to use the toilets as they were held for an hour before being taken to a meeting point.
The PA news agency reports that United are investigating the issues, while Ronan Ewain, chief executive of the FSE fans' network, has criticised the police response.
“It is completely unacceptable that police think it is OK to stop people using the toilet and then respond to it in a completely disproportionate manner,” he told the PA news agency.
“It is human nature for people to get angry when the police deprive them of basic human rights, such as the ability to use the toilet.
“In this situation, the responsibility for creating tension and escalating it lies with the police, instead of taking the only logical decision – allowing people to use the toilet, even if it is in small groups.
“The fact that they decided to make the situation worse cannot be justified.”
The FSE is working in partnership with the Manchester United Supporters' Trust to collect evidence.
On the local government's decision to force fans to collect tickets at away matches on the outskirts of the city for a third successive European match, Ewain added: “This new scheme of compulsory ticket collection outside the city is completely impractical.
“It’s even harder to justify a game like Manchester United when there are no fans at risk and there have been no reports of incidents involving Manchester United fans travelling around Europe for very long periods.
“Thus, we see that local authorities are approaching security issues without due consideration for the comfort of away fans.”
MUST CEO Duncan Drasdo wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter: “90 percent of the time at away Euro games, the violence comes from the police, not the home fans.”
“Most countries can handle this properly, but there are almost always problems with the French police. Too often they create the aggression that they are supposed to prevent.”
PA has approached United and UEFA for comment.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
