“Dangerous” departure
Stunned England fans rage against chaos in Gelsenkirchen
17.06.2024, 22:10
Getting to and from the European Championship match between England and Serbia is proving difficult. Numerous English fans are complaining about the long waiting times, especially at night, and are making serious accusations. The authorities, meanwhile, have a different view of things.
International criticism, calls for an investigation, but a positive conclusion from the authorities: The alleged rail chaos surrounding the European Championship match between England and Serbia (1:0) in Gelsenkirchen is causing a lot of discussion. The city administration drew a “positive conclusion” after the match, but English fans complained about “serious problems” in public transport.
There were “isolated disruptions” on Sunday when traveling from the race track to the stadium, the city of Gelsenkirchen wrote in a statement. The departure also went as planned “with a few exceptions”. At the same time, however, the city wants to discuss with the transport companies “whether multilingual communication for fans during EURO 2024 can be further optimized,” said Luidger Wolterhoff, head of the Host City Operation Center (HCOC).
Numerous fans had reported on social media, among other things, about chaotic conditions in rail transport before and after the match. In fact, there was a long disruption on the main line two and a half hours before kick-off. Many fans therefore made the long, almost hour-long walk to the stadium. And long after midnight there were still long queues waiting for transport. The timing was incomprehensible, some fans told ntv.de. They were “dismayed at what the fans had to go through at yesterday’s game in Gelsenkirchen,” wrote the fan organization “Free Lions.” The fact that people were stuck in Gelsenkirchen’s main station three hours after the end of the game due to transport problems at a major tournament was “simply ridiculous.”
Crowds of people crowd onto platforms
The organization, which says it has evaluated numerous field reports, criticized the insufficient capacity, poor queue management, poor communication and significant delays. “Free Lions” also wrote of a “dangerous overcrowding” of the train station at the arena and called for “a thorough review” by the organizers and the European Football Union (UEFA).
Pictures and videos show crowds of people on overcrowded platforms near the arena, and at Gelsenkirchen main station, supporters of the teams are said to have waited a long time for their onward journey. The local transport company Bogestra rejected the criticism on social media. A spokesman told Der Spiegel that they had faced challenges that are not unusual at major sporting events: “As a transport company, we did an adequate job.”
The next European Championship match in Gelsenkirchen will take place on Thursday (9pm/ntv.de live ticker) Spain and Italy will face each other. Depending on how the tournament goes, England could play Schalke again in the round of 16.