European football away trips face growing safety concerns due to poor policing and stadium issues in 2026.
Football fans often travel across Europe to watch their teams compete in elite competitions, hoping for a memorable experience with friends and family. However, away matches have increasingly become associated with risks, including major security failings and violent incidents.
The 2022 Champions League final was described as nearly turning into a deadly disaster because of mismanagement by organizers and local authorities. Since then, fans from clubs like Manchester City, Manchester United, and Newcastle have publicly criticized the policing and security at games in Istanbul, Lyon, and Marseille.
In the most recent season, some Champions League away matches even saw visiting fans banned from attending due to alarming security trends that left supporters feeling humiliated and exposed to danger.
Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which collects fan feedback after European games, warns that conditions are worsening in several countries including Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. He also highlights repeat offenders—nations and clubs that repeatedly fail to meet acceptable safety standards.
Evain mentions that France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, despite being popular tourist destinations, often treat football supporters as threats or second-class visitors. Security for these matches involves collaboration between host clubs, national governments, local authorities, regional police, and UEFA, yet experiences vary widely based on location, local policies, home fan behavior, and match context.
Even groups traveling together can face vastly different outcomes.
Evain describes small but humiliating practices such as forcing fans to arrive at stadiums four hours before kickoff, lengthy bus trips without restroom access, or confiscation of everyday items like lip balm. These measures, often unnecessary, may reflect attempts at social control or reflect outdated practices.
More alarmingly, fans are frequently herded through entry gates barely wider than a door, exposing them to potential crushing or panic situations. Evain emphasizes that even minor disturbances could escalate quickly in overcrowded, poorly managed environments.
Gemma Manns, a 44-year-old Chelsea fan, traveled to Naples for a match and avoided arriving early due to reports of local fan hostility. She mentioned hearing about two young supporters who were stabbed, which, while shocking, did not come as a surprise.
After the game, fans were held for over an hour and faced intimidation from ultras in their stands. When leaving, police presence vanished, leaving the group to board overcrowded buses with open doors and no protection.
Jude Aston, a 21-year-old Aston Villa fan who uses a wheelchair, described being locked inside a metal cage with thick bars during an Istanbul trip, severely limiting his view of the match. The cage was locked for most of the game, and he could not leave to use the restroom until halftime, raising serious safety concerns.
Jane Boland, a 61-year-old Liverpool supporter, recalled chaotic entry and exit processes in Marseille, where riot police controlled access and egress tightly.
Fans were told to arrive more than four hours early and endured long waits with limited or no toilet facilities. Exiting took over two hours after full time, with supporters packed into stairwells for extended periods, leading to at least one medical emergency.
Sue Fox, a 68-year-old Tottenham fan in Frankfurt, reported efficient transport but poor conditions upon arrival: fans were marched through a dark, muddy forest, locked gates caused a one-hour queue, and close packing made the situation uncomfortable.
Inside, the only women's toilet was in the home section, forcing female fans to enter that area.
Dylan White, a 21-year-old Arsenal fan in Milan, described overcrowded queues for designated metro access and tight ticket checks that created dangerous bottlenecks.
Fans were held outside locked gates until 20 minutes before kickoff and forced to climb steep staircases just to enter the stadium.
Luke Stanley, a 22-year-old Manchester City fan in Bodø, Norway, had a positive experience with straightforward entry and helpful police, though the away section had only three toilets and limited food. Overall, he felt the treatment was good compared to other destinations.
Owain Davies, chief executive of Level Playing Field, an organization supporting disabled sports fans, expressed fury at the use of cages for wheelchair users, calling it not an isolated incident.
He highlighted reports of disabled fans being carried into stadiums or forced to change on urine-soaked floors. In a survey, 79% of disabled fans said they were made to sit in home sections during European trips, potentially exposing them to abuse.
Davies criticized UEFA’s failure to enforce its own accessibility guidelines, published 16 months prior, calling the lack of action an attack on dignity.