Manchester City fans are being told to make their way to Ataturk Stadium for Saturday’s Champions League final NINE hours before kick off as UEFA work to avoid a repeat of the dangerous scenes that marred last year’s showpiece.
The Ataturk Stadium is more than an hour west of central Istanbul and, with public transport limited, officials are laying on hundreds of shuttle buses departing from 1pm with a fanzone selling food and beer outside the stadium for ticketholders open from 2pm.
Fans are being warned to arrive as early as possible but tensions remain between the governing body, organising committee and local police despite officers agreeing to relax a number of rules that apply to domestic fixtures – including a ban on rainbow flags and any clothing displaying the word “ultra.”
Talks have led to compromises being made by the hosts, who are viewing this final as an audition to win the hosting rights for the 2028 European Championships. Yet the ban on any item featuring “ultra” written on it was only lifted following discussions late last week and there is an awareness among UEFA officials that policing is the one aspect completely out of their control.
City and Inter fans will be met by three security checkpoints on their way into the stadium. The first will be a ticket activation (fans must have their phone’s bluetooth turned on), followed by body searches carried out by police and finally a separate search by a private security firm.
But the biggest hurdle is expected to be transporting thousands of fans from Istanbul to the stadium. There is one metro station, ten minutes north of the stadium, and fans are being urged to instead use buses that will depart from two city centre locations – one for each club.
City supporters are being asked to board at Yenikapi, near the fan festival run by UEFA and its commercial partners from Thursday morning. Fans with accessibility issues are being told the drop off points at the Ataturk are close to entry points.
Last season’s final at Stade de France was overshadowed by dangerous overcrowding, misleading messaging and significant errors by police which saw thousands of Liverpool fans, including children and people with mobility issues, locked outside and attacked while locals attempted to break into the stadium.
An attempted cover-up by French police and senior government figures, aiming to blame Liverpool fans, was swiftly disproven and a comprehensive review from UEFA led to supporters receiving an apology and the authorities admonished.
Among the recommendations from the review was the need to ensure significantly improved provisions for fans and UEFA will have a dedicated fanzone at opposite ends of the stadium for each club. City’s will be at the southern end and will open at 2pm local time, eight hours before the game.
UEFA are promising affordable food and alcohol at the fanzones, which will be for ticketholders only. Smoking will be allowed and the bars will remain open until two hours before kick off.
Aside from the disturbing scenes in Paris, last season’s Europa League final between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers saw the stadium in Seville run out of water and female supporters had hygiene products confiscated upon entry.
Although no alcohol will be served inside the stadium on Saturday, there are plans to reopen the fan parks at full time until 30 minutes after the trophy presentation to ensure fans can eat and drink before returning to the city or airports via shuttle buses which are expected to run until 3am.
The last metro typically departs at 11:50pm and there is an intention to run later services but those returning to Yenikapi will need to change lines on three occasions and it is unclear if all lines will have an extended timetable. Taxis are to be avoided on matchday, UEFA say, meaning the shuttle bus will be the only realistic route back to town for fans.
Istanbul has twice had hosting duties taken away because of the coronavirus and in March there were suggestions that the match could be moved for a third time with some UEFA officials mindful of the recent election and the need for contingency plans. But those whispers did not progress to serious discussions and work has been taking place at the stadium for the past three months.
Last month UEFA described reports of a potential switch as “inaccurate and unfounded” and added that it had “no discussions to the contrary with any political institutions, governments or national football associations.”
The stadium that hosted Liverpool’s dramatic 2005 win against Milan has had a substantial facelift in recent months that has included improvements to toilets and concession areas with additional work to accommodate the thousands of corporate guests and media.
Among the groups working closely with UEFA to ensure they have corrected past mistakes are Football Supporters Europe. They have also been assisting City fans with advice ahead of this weekend’s tie and chief operating officer Niamh O’Mahony said that the work carried out by UEFA in the past 12 has been encouraging.
“Since last year’s final in Paris and also the review recommendations, we’ve seen a significant change in how UEFA works with us to prepare for the finals this year,” O’Mahony said. “FSE was part of a pre-final site visit, been able to hear plans, and give advice on how best to approach certain scenarios.
“That doesn’t mean all of our advice is being taken on board but it is considered, and that is an important change. FSE’s role is to constructively challenge the planning so that supporters in Istanbul can enjoy their trip and all the effort into planning will be worth it. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see what happens now but a huge amount of preparation has been happening.”
FSE will have representatives on the ground to observe and provide guidance, while English police spotters will be on hand to liaise with fans and local officers.
