UEFA Champions League Final 2022-23, the biggest showpiece event in European club football, will be played this year between Manchester City and Inter Milan at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey on June 10, Saturday. But there are fears of security for the fans, especially because at the grand finale of UCL last year, there were distressing scenes involving the crowd at the entrance gates to Stade de France, prior to kick-off time.
The Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool had a delayed kick-off on May 29 last year, by 37 minutes, because most of the fans of the English club, stuck amidst the chaos at the entrance gates, couldn’t make their seats inside the stadium. The Los Blancos beat the Reds by 1-0 on that fateful night in Paris, to win their 14th UCL title.
UEFA, who initially tried to shift the blame for the issue at Stade de France last year, eventually launched a thorough review of the ticketing chaos at the entrance gates. Afterwards, they came up with new recommendations to safeguard the fans at Ataturk Olympic Stadium, by asking them to arrive at the venue, nine hours ahead of kickoff.
According to reports, there have been talks between UEFA officials and local cops about the security of the fans, who are going to attend the UCL final this year in Istanbul. Furthermore, UEFA officials believe that some policing elements might be beyond their control for Saturday’s showpiece event.
Notably, Manchester City, the English champions managed by Pep Guardiola, will be travelling to Southeastern Europe, to win their first-ever UCL title and complete the treble. On the other side, Inter Milan, under Simone Inzaghi, will be looking to get their hands on the Champions League trophy for the fourth time in their football history, the first three titles were won in 1964, 1965, and 2010.