Chelsea complain to UEFA over Barcelona brutality during Champions League
By AFP | Published: 14th April 2018 05:25 AM |
Last Updated: 14th April 2018 05:25 AM | A+A A- |
Barcelona's Lionel Messi leaps over Chelsea's Andreas Christensen during the Champions League round of sixteen second leg soccer match against Chelsea. | AP
UNITED KINGDOM: Chelsea have made an official complaint to UEFA over the "brutal" treatment they say their supporters received at the hands of police and stewards during last month's Champions League loss away to Barcelona.
The London club said an "unprecedented response" from fans to an appeal for information regarding the alleged incidents had led them to take their case to UEFA, European football's governing body.
"We issued a plea for information to those fans who may have been involved in these incidents," said a statement on Chelsea's website issued on Friday.
"This resulted in an unprecedented response, with a large number of individuals coming forward to complain in relation to poor organisation, lack of crowd control, brutality on the part of stewards and police and exposure to generally unsafe conditions.
"Chelsea takes the safety of our fans, both at home and away, extremely seriously, and this not what we expect when attending events organised by UEFA or its member clubs.
"We thank those supporters who shared their experiences to help form our report and will now await a response from UEFA."
At the time, UEFA said they too were looking into the alleged incidents, with fans posting videos on social media around Chelsea's 3-0 defeat.
