Newcastle United are to complain to Uefa over what they describe as the “unacceptable treatment” of their supporters by French police after Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League defeat at Marseille. The Premier League club accused officers of using pepper spray, batons and shields to subdue fans following the match at Stade Vélodrome.
A club statement said: “We will be formally raising our concerns with Uefa, Olympique de Marseille and French police in relation to the unacceptable treatment of our supporters by police at Stade Vélodrome following Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League fixture.” According to Newcastle, travelling fans were kept inside the stadium for an hour in a planned move for their safety, with groups of 500 then escorted to the metro. However, the operation went awry when police used “unnecessary and disproportionate force” to stop fans from moving, resulting in numerous supporters being “indiscriminately assaulted”.
Newcastle’s statement added: “Many supporters were visibly distressed, particularly in the upper concourse area of the away sector, where crushing became apparent. Our staff immediately addressed the matter with the police, however this had limited impact on their excessive tactics. Supporter safety and welfare should always be of paramount importance, and we strongly condemn the treatment of our supporters by the police during this incident.”
Marseille police said in a statement they maintained a friendly attitude with Newcastle fans but that a crowd surge prompted riot police to intervene. “At one point, towards the end of the operation, in the visitors’ section, a crowd surge required the intervention of the CRS riot police, one of whom made very limited use of tear gas, which caused discomfort to around 20 fans for a few minutes,” the police said. “Apart from this incident, no force was used and the operation went smoothly. No injuries or complaints were reported following this event.”
Newcastle say they will contact the relevant bodies for an investigation into what happened “to ensure lessons are learned and this behaviour is not repeated” and have called on supporters to share their view of the experience. Marseille said the arrangements for away supporters were planned well in advance in coordination with the prefecture of police, Uefa and Newcastle, and that the measures complied with Uefa standards and were implemented without issues. “No specific incidents or alerts were reported to it [the club] by Newcastle United FC during the evening of the match, either by their representatives present at the stadium or in the hours following the match,” Marseille said in a statement. “The feedback sent to our department by Uefa after the match attests to the quality of the measures put in place and their successful operational implementation ... the club cannot accept that its responsibility should be wrongly called into question.”
