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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

Gary Lineker calls out UEFA as 'awful' Rangers and Liverpool fan conditions cited

Gary Lineker calls out UEFA as 'awful' Rangers and Liverpool fan conditions cited

GARY LINEKER has called on UEFA to make changes after the "awful" conditions faced by Rangers and Liverpool supporters in the Champions League and Europa League finals respectively.

Rangers fans were left with a "severe lack of food and water" in the final against Frankfurt in Seville last month. And supporters were also subject to "several organisational problems around policing, body searches and beyond".

The club have held discussions with the UK government, Frankfurt officials and Football Supporters Europe over the conditions for the showpiece final.

Liverpool supporters were similarly faced with horror conditions ahead of their Champions League final match against Real Madrid in France.

And sharing a video of supporters appearing to be crushed during entry problems at the final, Lineker claims it's a "minor miracle" no one was seriously hurt or even killed.

The presenter has now called on UEFA to make change and ensure no problems occur in the future.

On Twitter, he wrote: "It’s a minor miracle no one was seriously injured or lost a life.

"My first experience of witnessing the unjust treatment of peaceful, law abiding fans going to a football game and It’s so wrong.

"@RangersFC fans went through an awful time too. Something has to change. @UEFAcom"

A Rangers statement this week, read: "Last Friday, representatives of Eintracht Frankfurt, Rangers FC, and Football Supporters Europe (FSE) met to debrief and discuss several significant organisational issues during the recent UEFA Europa League final in Sevilla.

"These issues could easily have led to even more severe problems on the night and it was only thanks to the calmness and mutual respect of both sets of fans towards each other that there were not more severe injuries suffered. All three parties applaud the remarkable calmness of the two fan bases, given the situation they faced.

"Apart from the severe lack of food and - even more critically in the soaring temperatures - of water, there were several organisational problems around policing, body searches and beyond. Both clubs, as well as FSE, received a huge amount of complaints and witness statements from fans present in the stadium.

"All three parties will now work jointly to report back to UEFA and the local public authorities in Spain, and will make recommendations to ensure these problems can never occur again at a European final.

"Fans spend a lot of effort, time and money following their teams all over Europe and expect to be treated with respect and dignity while attending football games. This expectation was not met at all at the Europa League final in Sevilla."

A further update read: "This morning, representatives from Rangers met with Her Majesty’s Government to discuss the issues faced by our support in Seville before, during and after the Europa League Final.

"We are grateful for this engagement and will continue to lobby on behalf of our supporters."

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