RANGERS HIT OUT OVER FAN TREATMENT AT SEVILLE FINAL

RANGERS have raised ‘major concerns’ over the treatment of their fans at last Wednesday’s Europa League final in Seville. The Ibrox club are in dialogue with UEFA and Football Supporters Europe (FSE) over several issues surrounding the match at the Ramon SanchezPizjuan Stadium which Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side lost on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt. Club officials have been made aware of the confiscation of medical products from some of their fans and a lack of access to drinking water inside the stadium. A Rangers statement read: ‘Rangers are immensely proud of our supporters for the spirit and character they have shown, following our club in record numbers. Our fans went to Seville and wowed locals with

colour, noise and positivity and showed the true character of Rangers. Although the result did not go our way, we will remember the build up to the match with great fondness.

‘However, we have major concerns around the treatment of our supporters at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, including the confiscation of previously approved and agreed items that were confiscated by the police and a lack of appropriate facilities within the stadium including the lack of bottled water or indeed water in the toilets — which understandably caused severe distress to many supporters in the stadium.’

Rangers have urged other supporters to come forward and share any similarly adverse experiences.

‘Supporters wishing to make a complaint to UEFA should be aware that UEFA has no direct grievance procedures for supporters,’ the statement continued. ‘We would recommend that supporters contact FSE via their away supporters’ survey. FSE are an independent, non-profit association of fans recognised as a representative body on fan issues by UEFA and are submitting a full report on the experiences of supporters in Seville.

‘Additionally, any supporters who have not yet shared their experience with the club and wish to do so, please email slo@rangers.co.uk by Thursday 26th May, of which a summary will be shared with UEFA.’

Meanwhile, teenage prospect Rory Wilson has revealed he is leaving Rangers — with Aston Villa leading the way to land the 49-goal striker. The Scotland Under-17s forward scored in the Euro finals in Israel this week against Denmark, falling just one goal short of hitting his half-century this season after banging them in for Rangers’ youth teams.

Wilson, 16, who has long been linked with former Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard’s Villa, has now confirmed he is going to try his luck down south. ‘Rangers have been brilliant for me.

There’s no getting away from that,’ he said. ‘But it’s time to move on and get to the next level. I’d like to thank Rangers for everything they have done for me. It’s been great for me over the last eight years, but it’s time to leave. ‘I’ll probably be going down south. We’ll wait and see what happens in the next couple of weeks. ‘Everything will be sorted very soon. At Rangers, all the coaches have been fantastic. I can’t thank them enough for their help. ‘I want to go down south and try and prove myself and become a top player and that’s what I am going to do.’