Investigation launched into alleged violent police treatment of England fans at Greece match

Some fans who traveled to the Greek capital for Wednesday night’s game have alleged that Greek riot police used excessive force during their attempts to enter the stadium.

A witness told talkSPORT: ‘Incredulous how bad the organisation has been tonight.

‘Our tickets not checked at second perimeter and could have photocopied them to get through first.

‘Exit gate opened as tensions grew and game kicked off. Shambolic. UEFA need calling out on this s*** guys.’

Another fan said Greek authorities ‘tear gassed and battered’ England fans in a ‘deliberate policy’ against the travelling support.

Other England supporters also told News they were ‘pushed back by riot shields’ with many missing kick-off as a result. The Three Lions went onto seal a comfortable 3-0 win in Lee Carsley’s penultimate game in charge as interim manager.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a webbrowser thatsupports HTML5video

The FA said in a statement: ‘We are aware that some of our fans had a difficult experience outside the ground and are obtaining more information on exactly what happened.’

The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) have also received reports of alleged violent treatment from local authorities and have appealed for more fans to submit their account of events.

The FSA said in a statement: ‘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.

‘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.’

England went top Group B2 in the Nations League with an impressive victory over previously unbeaten Greece, who won 2-1 at Wembley last month.

They are back in action against Republic of Ireland on Sunday.