England supporters have reported being tear gassed and kettled by Greek riot police while trying to get into the Olympic Stadium in Athens to watch their Nations League match
FA chiefs are investigating complaints from England fans that they were tear gassed at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.
Travelling supporters also claimed rafts of ticketless fans got into the away end without any security checks before the Three Lions’ impressive 3-0 win over Greece on Thursday night. Supporters complained police and stewards used heavy-handed tactics around the stadium and some claimed tear gas was used.
An FA spokesperson said: “We are aware that some of our fans had a difficult experience outside the ground and are obtaining more information on exactly what happened.” Mirror Football has contacted UEFA to request comment.
There were 3,500 England fans with tickets at the game, which kicked off at 9.45pm local time, but the FA had 10,000 expressions of interest while local supporters were also complaining they could not get tickets.
“Treatment of England fans abroad just gets worse and worse. Unnecessary kettling, unnecessary tear gassing, unnecessary crush. No toilets in the actual stand. Absolute joke,” one fan tweeted alongside pictures showing riot police wearing gas masks surrounding crowds of supporters.
Other posts on social media showed two portaloos outside the stands to cater for the thousands of away fans. Another wrote: “The Greek police are an absolute disgrace tear gassing innocent people trying to queue”.
Anger directed towards UEFA is nothing new, with England fans left furious with the lack of organisation and transport put on for their Euro 2024 match against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen in the summer. At least this time those who did get inside the stadium in Athens were treated to a brilliant performance from their side.
England moved top of Group B2 in the Nations League with a crucial victory over previously unbeaten Greece, who won 2-1 at Wembley last month. Lee Carsley took a big decision to drop Harry Kane in favour of Ollie Watkins and was immediately vindicated as the Aston Villa striker opened the scoring inside seven minutes with a close-range finish from Noni Madueke’s pull-back.
That was the first goal Greece had conceded at home in a year and they fought back, forcing Jordan Pickford into making some crucial saves. After hitting the post with a header, Jude Bellingham forced a second goal in via a ricochet off goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Curtis Jones then rounded off a brilliant night with a stunning flick on his debut from Morgan Gibbs-White’s low cross. England will now return home knowing a win over the Republic of Ireland on Sunday at Wembley will secure their promotion back to the top flight of the Nations League, and end Carsley’s interim stint on a positive note ahead of Thomas Tuchel’s arrival in the New Year.
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