By George Overhill

23rd May, 2022 | 7:10pm

Rangers fans share nightmare Seville stories - danger, disgust, fury

Rangers fans have shared stories of their horrendous experiences of the Europa League final in Seville last week (18 May) with The Athletic.

The Gers lost on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt, but it has become increasingly clear that the situation within and surrounding the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium was bad for supporters.

UEFA apologised following the final after fans were forced to drink tap water in the toilets when kiosks ran out of drinks and closed, but further issues with sanitation, safety, and policing are coming out.

On a night where it was 40C at kick-off according to The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell, water and sun cream were among items reportedly seized by police on the way into the stadium, as well as battery packs and phone chargers, despite them being designated as permitted items.

One fan said: “I only just got on my flight home with 10 per cent battery to access my boarding pass.

“The cops seemed to be taking great delight in binning everything and four UEFA nobodies stood and watched.

“I was so livid I took picture of them all as that’s what annoyed me the most. I had a genuine complaint and he just munched on crisps and smirked.”

As supporters were forced to scavenge for water wherever they could find it in the heat, one said: “A few people began fainting in there and I saw one in a really bad way after the game, walking back out.

“It was bad. I’m amazed no one died.”

Another had a similar view, saying: “I’m surprised there were no fatalities if I’m honest… I walked in the toilet and there was a guy on the ground and people were shouting for water. The stewards weren’t bothered at all.”

A female fan reported toilets overflowing due to no running water to flush them, and one parent spoke of “kids being crushed” at checkpoints outside when police pushed fans back.

Another said: “They just crowded us together like animals at every checkpoint and, in that heat, it was murder.”

Disgrace

While this issue is being reported and has brought an apology from UEFA, it seems like it is only luck that has prevented it from being a major disaster.

It sounds like it was a genuine possibility that supporters could have died in the circumstances, which sounds hysterical, but thousands of desperate people without water in extreme heat is a serious situation.

In that context it doesn’t seem to have generated the outrage it should be outside of the Light Blues’ fanbase.

Much was made of the potential for trouble being generated by the travelling fans before hand, which turned out to be unfounded.

But instead they appear to have been on the receiving end of an awful situation at the game.

Nobody should have their lives put at risk, not to mention the gross toilet situations or lost property, when going to see a football match, let alone have to pay for the privilege.

Serious questions need to be asked of the authorities in this situation, and major lessons learnt, or the result could be far worse next time.

In other Rangers news, to add to their misery supporters were trolled by Ryanair online after the game.