Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has accepted “not everything was perfect” for fans after criticism about the Champions League final in Istanbul.
Fans reported having to walk extended distances along busy roads, queue for hours for transport to and from the stadium and being left without water and bathroom facilities at the flagship event, in as Manchester City beat Inter Milan on 10 June.
Uefa was forced to apologise to Liverpool fans after last year’s final when they were penned in and teargassed before the game in Paris.
European football’s governing body had not previously addressed the issues experienced by supporters in Istanbul.
Ceferin was speaking over the weekend at the four-day European Football Fans Congress in Manchester, which concluded last night. He said: “Given what some of you experienced recently, I would understand if I got a cold reception tonight. We are well aware that in Istanbul not everything was perfect. I am certainly not playing down the problems encountered by some. But let us continue working together to improve what can we improve.
“I’m thinking in particular transport links to and from stadium, the hosting of the stadium supporters and access to water and toilets for everyone.”
Ceferin said Uefa’s other major finals in the men’s and women’s games had passed without significant issues.
Ceferin also appeared to look to the red side of Manchester when he addressed the potential conflicts caused by multi-club ownership – potential Manchester United buyer Sir Jim Ratliffe’s Ineos already owns French club Nice and Swiss club FC Lausanne-Sport, while his main competitor in the battle for the club, Qatar investor Sheikh Jassim, has close ties to the Qatar sovereign wealth fund which also owns French champions Paris St Germain.
Ceferin admitted that UEFA currently “pretends” clubs playing in major competitions don’t share owners.
