Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A Rotter for fans
GAWA miss first 20 minutes of qualifier over turnstiles blunder
NORTHERN Ireland football fans have blasted the “chaotic” scenes which saw hundreds of them miss the opening 20 minutes of Thursday night’s Euro 2020 qualifier.
More than 3,500 members of the Green And White Army travelled to Rotterdam for the crunch clash in Group C – which Holland won 3-1.
But as the match kicked off, many were left outside the De Kuip stadium.
Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters’ Clubs chairman GaryMc al lister claimed supporters were directed to the wrong entrance, with ticket scanning issues also leading to fans not gaining entry before kick-off.
He described the treatment of supporters as they attempted to gain entrance to the game as “a disgrace”, adding the Amalgamation will raise a complaint with UEFA.
He said: “The scenes outside the stadium on Thursday night were not only chaotic, they were dangerous and had the potential to become much more serious. Fans were directed to the wrong entrance by stewards who appeared ill-informed. After queuing for some time, they were then sent to another set of turnstiles at a different part of the stadium.
“This led to several hundred fans being crowded into a confined area, which caused considerable anxiety.
“There were also issues with the scanning of tickets, which added to the problem. This was not a case of fans arriving late, as many people were there more than an hour before kick-off.
“I have contacted the Irish Football Association this morning and asked that an official complaint is made to the
The scenes outside were not only chaotic but also dangerous GARY MCALLISTER YESTERDAY
Royal Dutch Football Federation. We will also be working with our colleagues in the Football Supporters Europe network to raise the issue with UEFA.”
In response, the Royal Dutch Football Association said: “We take this very seriously and we’ll start an investigation to find out what exactly happened.”
The IFA added: “The Irish Football Association is currently collating information from individual fans, the Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters’ Clubs and police regarding the apparent delay in admitting several hundred Northern Ireland fans to the Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam ahead of last night’s Euro 2020 qualifier.
“The association will in turn forward this information to the Royal Dutch Football Association for its observations on the issues raised.”