LAST UPDATE | 14 Oct 2023
IRELAND’S EURO 2024 qualifier against Greece in Dublin last night will have stirred frightening memories for any Irish fans who travelled to Athens for the match between the two sides at the brand-new OPAP Arena in June.
Irish fans endured serious and frightening issues accessing the ground, with the FAI releasing a statement immediately after the game to state they engaged with Greek FA officials to alleviate the problems and would review the causes of what had happened.
The 42 are using the occasion of the teams’ reunion to tell the story of what happened in Athens in June, to explain the gravity of what may have unfolded on the night and ask what is being done to avoid the problems repeating themselves at a ground which will host the Uefa Conference League final next May.
The following piece is drawn from testimony provided to The 42 by 10 eyewitnesses.
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The OPAP Arena is approximately 6.5km from Athens city centre, and is the home of AEK Athens. It’s a brand new stadium, and hosted its first Greece senior international match in March of this year.
Irish fans were initially assigned tickets for the away section of the ground, in blocks 46, 47, and 48 of the the ground. Blocks 46 and 48 were in the upper tier of the stadium, and block 47 was in the lower tier.
Given the demand for tickets, the FAI requested an additional allocation for Irish supporters, which was granted by the Greek FA. These additional tickets were for block 45, which is beside block 47 in the lower tier but, unlike the other three blocks, usually forms part of the home fans’ section at the stadium. Therefore, seats in blocks 45 and 47 are divided by a perspex screen.
Multiple Irish fans told The 42 that they were unaware of any way to access block 45 other than climbing over the perspex divider from block 47.
So I'm still there & ask them what am I supposed to do now. After some headscratching they use the override to let me in too.
— Trevor Gordon (@thisTrevg) June 17, 2023
When I get in, it im block 47 & the only way over to block 45 is to climb over a glass barrier. pic.twitter.com/nnp3HM9Pvc
Indicative of the haphazard organisation that Irish fans would later encounter, they were informed before they travelled by the Greek FA – via the FAI – that anyone with tickets for block 47 should access the stadium via the turnstile for block 45. It was meant to be phrased the other way: anyone with tickets for 45 was supposed to go through 47, as the turnstile for block 45 was closed throughout the game.
Block 45 is usually part of the home fans’ allocation, so its access point was outside the security cordon set up for Irish fans on the night of the game.
Irish fans had to pass through a security check before they made their way to the gates at the stadium. Nobody who spoke to The 42 said they had any issue with the security check, which was done quickly and was well-resourced with stewards and police officers.
The problems began when fans made it to the gates. Those who arrived more than 45 minutes before kick-off generally got through without too many issues. Multiple fans reported delays with e-tickets, with confusion as to whether the barcode or the QR Code on the tickets should be scanned at the turnstiles. One of those fans added that the QR Code also had to be grabbed and manually resized to scan, which caused some delays, but there were not the serious issues.
The layout of the turnstiles accessing the upper-tier blocks 46 and 48 also caused some frustration and confusion. “The stiles 46 and 48 were beside each other: think of a double door with a dividers in the middle- for all intents and purposes, it looked like a single entrance with two sides to it”, one Irish supporter told The 42.
“But there was no divide on the inside of stadium – you could see in through both turnstiles. Yet a ticket for 46 wouldn’t scan in 48, and vice versa. This caused more queues, and people agitated because they were being sent back to the back of the opposite queue opposite and vice versa, having already queued for 10/15 minutes to reach the top. There was no logical reason for this divide on the outside at all, especially as there was no divide on the inside.”
Greece open 4 turnstiles for 2500 Ireland fans tonight. Joke pic.twitter.com/BmHDHbaaFh
— JC (@jackcummins_9) June 16, 2023
Serious problems arose for the fans who arrived around 45 minutes before kick-off. As crowds built around the access gates for Ireland, the flow of fans through them trickled to a halt.
The delays were because of a technical fault at the turnstiles approximately 35 minutes before kick-off. In an email to ticket-holders, sent on 7 July and subsequently seen by The 42, the FAI said that this technical problem affected Irish fans and some home supporters, adding, “the security and stewarding personnel present were specifically asked to find an immediate solution to the issues but it was clear that those personnel had a lack of specific experience and expertise either in relation to the stadium itself or indeed the ticketing process overall.”
Eyewitnesses say some Irish fans were still admitted after the technical issues developed, but at an extremely slow rate. One person estimated the rate of admittance at roughly one fan per minute.
Jamie Ralph / Twitter
Jamie Ralph / Twitter / Twitter
As the kick-off time ticked closer, the crowds swelled and the pressure grew. Irish fans began alerting journalists and FAI officials inside the ground to the problems developing outside.
“Slowly but surely the mood changed to ‘what’s the hold up’”, says Irish fan Ian Webb.
“Some people started walking back away from the gate saying the e-tickets wouldn’t work if it was a screenshot. Nobody knew really what was happening. As people got more anxious there was an increased pressure just standing there. Waves of just having to make sure of your footing became worse and people began shouting to ‘stop pushing’. We crept towards the turnstile at a snails pace. Some people had serious difficulties walking back through the very crowded queue to find an alternative turnstile. There was no pushing. The crowd was pretty much back as far as the search line we breezed through earlier.
“It got so tight that I had to usher two older gentlemen in their 70s into our line. They were facing away and found it difficult to push their way round the right direction. A couple of lads in our groups in their 20s couldn’t free their arms, or if they did would cause another ripple towards the front. A woman was quite hysterical beyond the turnstile calling for her father – he was fine in the end.”
Bad organisation for entry in Greece.
— YBIG (@YouBoysInGreen) June 16, 2023
Has to be better than this. pic.twitter.com/Q3waxKlYCF
With the crowds growing and kick-off fast approaching, FAI officials inside the stadium spoke to Greek FA officials to find a solution.
“We thought it would be a temporary measure and that the gates would be opened but we waited there amongst a huge crowd to be let into the stadium to no avail”, says Jamie Ralph. “The situation became a bit panicked when we heard the national anthems from outside the stadium and there was a collective realisation that we were going to miss the game.”
Stewards and stadium security were instructed to open the stadium gates to relieve the pressure and allow Irish fans in. The 42 has been unable to establish who gave this order. The gates to the upper-tier blocks, 46 and 48 and the gates to the lower-tier blocks, 45 and 47, opened within minutes of kick-off. This led to a surge of fans entering the stadium through the opened gates, none of whom had their tickets checked.
“I had no choice but to go into the ground through the surge”, says Graham Corcoran. “My feet quite literally didn’t touch the ground.”
The fans spilling into the lower tier blocks 45 and 47 were then faced with an even more dangerous situation as they tried to get to their seats. Multiple eyewitnesses confirmed to The 42 that there were no stewards among the Irish fans in the stands, and there was only one set of steps leading from the concourse to block 47.
With no stewards on hand and amid the rush of people, this resulted in fans with tickets for blocks 45 and 47 trying to access block 47 only. It quickly filled up, with some fans standing in the aisles. The rush of people through the gates merely swelled numbers behind them, however, and there was a possibility of a very serious crush developing in block 47.
Ultimately, that appalling scenario was averted by the timely self-policing of Irish supporters, who arranged row-by-row for those sitting beside the perspex divider to clamber over into block 45 and relieve the pressure in block 47. This movement of people continued for approximately 20 minutes after kick-off.
“Luckily we were able to somewhat self police because there was a serious disaster waiting to happen”, says Graham Corcoran. “Doubt I would return to Greece again for a match to be honest. “
“Only for the fans helping direct each other there could have been a major crush on the single entrance to Block 47 where they had basically sent twice too many people”, tweeted Irish supporter Trevor Gordon, who was at the match. “I’ve been to a lot of football in a lot on places and never seen anything so shambolic and dangerous.”
“It was just extremely poorly managed from beyond the search cordon”, says Ian Webb. “Hearing young lads of 13/14 saying this must be like Hillsborough was awful.”
UK trade union leader Mick Lynch, who regularly travels to watch Ireland, was in Athens and recalled his experience in an interview on the Late Late Show last month. “Nearly got killed at the turnstiles. If anyone was at that game they’ll remember that. It was terrible.”
In their email to supporters, the FAI said, “a serious incident was only avoided because of the self-control and patience of the assembled Irish fans and once again the FAI would like to thank all of our fans for their exemplary behaviour on the night.”
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Uefa had a senior security official at the game, and he called an immediate post-match meeting to discuss the Irish fans’ experience, which was attended by officials from the FAI and Greek FA.
The FAI then gathered testimony from Irish supporters and submitted a review of the situation to Uefa, with advocacy group Football Supporters Europe doing likewise.
“Following the issues faced by Irish fans at the Uefa Euro 2024 qualifier against Greece at the OPAP Arena in June, the FAI submitted a detailed report on the issues faced by fans at the game and in particular entry to the stadium pre-match”, an FAI spokesperson told The 42. “Having submitted the report to Uefa for review, Uefa has since acknowledged the report and confirmed that they will continue to work closely with all Associations on the safety, security and match operational aspects for all games, with the safety of fans travelling to matches always of the utmost importance.”
Neither the Greek FA nor Uefa have issued an apology to the FAI or the Irish supporters on the night, though we understand the FAI have not formally sought an apology from either body.
The 42 submitted questions and a request for comment to Uefa and the Greek FA for this article at 4pm on Wednesday afternoon.
The Greek FA responded to say they had no comment to make. Uefa did not respond in time for publication, but they replied after publication.
“Following the European Qualifying match, Uefa received the report from the Football Association of Ireland and took due acknowledgement of it”, say the governing body.
“At the same time, Uefa intensified its contacts with the Greek Football Federation and the club of AEK Athens, providing expertise and arranging an observation period until November 2023, a necessary condition to confirm the venue for the 2024 Uefa Europa Conference League final. Uefa will continue to work closely with all federations regarding safety, security and service aspects for all matches.”
The Irish fans’ experience in Athens raises serious safety issues for the Greek FA and Uefa to address. Each Euro 2024 qualifier is preceded by a meeting on the morning of the game, at which a security plan is presented to the Uefa match delegate. How were Irish fans allocated a section in the home section that did not appear to be accessible via the turnstiles and concourse? And how did the game go ahead without any stewards being present in the stands with Irish supporters?
The dangers faced by Irish fans come at a time when issues are arising around multiple Uefa-organised matches.
The scale of what could have happened to Liverpool supporters at the 2022 Champions League final in Paris is chilling: the independent review of the events around the final concluded that “it is remarkable that no one lost their life.”
Uefa also apologised to Rangers fans, as they were left without water at the 2022 Europa League final in Seville. Manchester City fans also faced major issues leaving the 2023 Champions League final in Istanbul.
The chaos endured by Irish supporters must never be repeated.
This piece was first published at 07.45, and updated at 11.19 to include a statement from Uefa.
