The fact that hundreds of Inter fans were unable to enter the Estadio do Dragao for their team’s Champions League round of sixteen second leg against Porto has been branded a “scandal” by Italian media.
Today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, criticize the organizers UEFA and Porto for failing to prevent the chaos which saw ticket-holding fans unable to enter the stadium at any point during the match for vaguely-defined security reasons.
There had been an agreement between Inter and Porto that was intended to allow all Nerazzurri fans who purchased tickets to yesterday’s match to get into the stadium, apart from those who had manage to purchase tickets in the stand where the Porto ultras sit.
Given this, it took Inter by surprise that the events that unfolded did not just see a few Inter fans barred entry based on legitimate security concerns, but hundreds left milling around in crowded tunnels.
Tickets were rejected by machines, and then when it became clear that the fans were travelling Italian fans, the match stewards seemingly lost interest in trying to get them into the stadium, the Gazzetta report.
From the perspective of the newspaper, it was nothing less than scandalous that something that should have been simple enough was handled so poorly, and it is a real “diplomatic incident” between the two clubs.
