Greek police criticised for using ‘shields and tear gas’ on England supporters

Marousi (Greece): The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) has criticised the Greek authorities for the way they conducted their operations at the Athens Olympic Stadium, where England defeated Greece 3-0 on Wednesday night. The FSA are claiming fans were subjected to extreme measures of ‘using shields and tear gas’ to form queues outside the stadium. “Unfortunately, once again, we are having to ask England supporters to send in their witness accounts to ourselves regarding the situation outside of the Athens Olympic Stadium. “Despite being told how things would operate in advance, to see the exact opposite occur in some cases, and to see the treatment of our fans by local police using shields and tear gas to do something as simple as rearrange a queue, is so incredibly frustrating,” read the post by the FSA on X. The FSA further went on to ask fans to report their experiences with the supporters association so they alongside UEFA can work on the betterment of the experience of watching football for supporters across the world. “We’ll say more over the next 24 hours, but in the meantime, if fans can email info@thefsa.org.uk with your experiences, we will work with the FA and we will raise with @FansEurope and in turn @UEFA, who have already been made aware. On a night where we had a great result on the pitch, there is still clearly so much needed to do off it to ensure our supporters aren’t put in unjustifiably dangerous situations. We keep trying. Safe travels home all and thanks in advance,” the post further added. On the night when England were missing a number of their regular starters, the Three Lions emphatically defeated the hosts 3-0 thanks to goals by Olliw Watkins, an own goal by goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos and a goal by Curtis Debut, who made his national team debut on the night, which also earned him the man of the match award. –IANS