Manchester City fans were caught in chaos as they attempted to travel to the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul to watch their team win the Champions League final.
Supporters found themselves trapped on buses with no access to toilets or water as traffic created a bottle-neck situation outside the stadium. In order to keep opposing fans separate before the game, Uefa and other local organisers asked Inter supporters to take the metro to the ground while buses were arranged to take City fans to the stadium.
However, the journey descended into chaos with fans complaining that there were queues lasting hours as they attempted to get on the buses and some were even filmed running down a gridlocked motorway as they attempted to reach the stadium in time.
Journalist and presenter Nick Stapleton attended the final with 77-year-old father, veteran TV presenter John Stapleton, and told the Telegraph they witnessed supporters 'urinating out of windows and vomiting', with the chaos starting when fans were forced to throw away bottles of water when boarding the buses and then not having access to any during the ensuing two hour journey to the ground.
"My dad has been attending City matches since 1954 but by the time we got to the stadium on Saturday night he said that this would be his last game," Nick said. "He is 77 and had a hip operation six weeks ago, and we could not even get access to water.
"After a two-hour journey, we arrived at 5.45pm for a 10pm kick-off to be told that it was last orders for drinks in the Uefa fanzone." Nick said he then had to queue for two hours to buy water and food before the game began.
And things did not get any easier after the final whistle, with Nick adding that "leaving the stadium was legitimately scary" as there were only two buses waiting to pick up City fans and the only route onto the already gridlocked motorway had been blocked by taxis.
"The car parks were gravel and we saw people in wheelchairs either having to be dragged in their chairs across the surface, or taken out and carried," he said. "The only way Uefa can show it cares is by spending some money to make the experience bearable for match-going fans. If they sent their delegates to experience what we go through – just for one game – they would understand.
"It comes down to properly funding logistics. Uefa don’t care because it knows that for many of us matches like these are a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we will do what it takes to get to the game. Look at what happened at the Champions League final in Paris last year and at Wembley [in 2021 at the European Championship final] and the common factor is they were all Uefa games."
