Newcastle say fans ‘indiscriminately assaulted’ by police in Marseille

Newcastle United are to launch a complaint after supporters were “indiscriminately assaulted by the police” following their side’s defeat by Marseille at Stade Velodrome.

The club will formally raise their concerns with Uefa, Marseille and French police after officers used “unnecessary and disproportionate force” following Tuesday’s Champions League game.

Newcastle said a combination of pepper spray, batons and shields were used by officers.

The club described the actions of the police as “unacceptable” and said they “strongly condemn the treatment of our supporters”.

Travelling Magpies fans were due to be held back inside the stadium after the final whistle for a period of up to one hour for their own safety.

They were then to be escorted in groups of 500 to the metro, which they would catch back to Place de la Joliette, the mandatory fan meeting point put in place by the local authorities and the police in Marseille.

However, Newcastle said that once the first group of supporters was released from the ground following the 2-1 defeat, the police began using “unnecessary and disproportionate force to stop the remainder of our fans from moving any further”.

“Many supporters were visibly distressed, particularly in the upper concourse area of the away section, where crushing became apparent,” the club stated.

“Our staff immediately addressed the matter with the police, however this had limited impact on their excessive tactics.

“Fans leaving the stadium rightly shared their distress, frustration and anger with our staff, and we have subsequently received deeply concerning witness reports from supporters who were in attendance.

“Supporter safety and welfare should always be of paramount importance, and we strongly condemn the treatment of our supporters by the police during this incident.”

The post-match operation was observed at close quarters by Newcastle stewards and senior staff.

The club said supporters “waited patiently and without incident during the hold back period”.

Among those supporters affected was season ticket holder Liam Phillips, 42, who vowed never to return to Marseille and “probably never go back to France to watch a game” after what he witnessed.

Though Phillips was keen to stress the locals were “very friendly”, he said the police “whacked people indiscriminately” after the game when the supporters at the front were being “pushed into the police through no fault of their own”.

“To be cooped up from 4pm – and I didn’t get back to my hotel until nearly 2am – that’s almost 10 hours to watch 90 minutes of football,” he said.

“It just felt inhumane and felt to me like we were being treated like criminals when actually the vast majority if not everybody were just there to watch their team.

“There was no aggro. It was all good-natured. We just wanted to watch a game of football. There was no need for it.”

Another fan, Darren Curry, the co-founder of the Newcastle Supporters Club, said supporters were left standing in urine on the concourses after toilets overflowed while they waited.

Though he highlighted how the police pulled his partner out, he said safety was “very poor”.

“People don’t like getting kettled in and it was a dangerous area,” he said.

“I saw a lot of women and men in stress. They were getting pulled out. If you’re at the front and there’s a surge forward, I’m pretty sure the police now will baton charge you.

“It was very lucky that no one got seriously hurt.”

Marseille police say they made “very limited use of tear gas” following a crowd surge but denied any other use of force.

“At one point, towards the end of the operation, in the visitors’ section, a crowd surge required the intervention of the CRS riot police, one of whom made very limited use of tear gas, which caused discomfort to around 20 fans for a few minutes,” the police said.

“Apart from this incident, no force was used and the operation went smoothly. No injuries or complaints were reported following this event.”

Marseille football club said that, according to Uefa’s debriefing, the system and the planned timing were “strictly adhered to” and that the system for “welcoming” the travelling support had been “defined before the match” in consultation with the police, Uefa and Newcastle.

The French club said access to the concourse remained open so supporters could “use the toilets or go to the refreshment stands” during this waiting period.

Marseille added the overflowing toilets were caused by an “act of vandalism”, namely a “deliberately blocked toilet and a damaged flush mechanism”.

The Football Supporters’ Association said Marseille and the local authorities have to “drastically improve the ‘welcome’ afforded to away supporters”.

“Credit to Newcastle United for standing against the shocking treatment their supporters received in Marseille,” a spokesman said.

Uefa have also been approached for comment.

France’s ability to safely host football matches has come under increased scrutiny since the 2022 Champions League final fiasco in Paris, in which Liverpool supporters were penned in and sprayed with tear gas by police.

Since then, Manchester United supporters complained of dangerous conditions in their match against Lyon in last season’s Europa League, while Tottenham fans raised concerns about policing at their Champions League match against Paris St-Germain this week.

“There is a systemic problem of the matchday organisation in France,” says Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe (FSE).

“We are seeing things that would be completely unacceptable elsewhere in society, in a concert hall, a festival, or a metro station. Those police practices are putting people’s health and lives at risk.

“But we don’t see any changes, any progress. There is not enough political or media pressure in France to force them to change.

“France is applying to host multiple European finals in the upcoming years – the Europa League, Conference League, Women’s Champions League. You can’t have a situation where every single European fixture you host is going badly while also claiming that you’re capable of organising a final.”

An independent report compiled by a panel of experts into the 2022 final found that a “mass fatality catastrophe” was only narrowly avoided, and blamed Uefa and the French authorities.

“That inquiry has been completely ignored,” Evain says. “Nobody was held to account and nothing has significantly changed. The French police is extremely conservative and not open to any kind of outside advice or influences on their approach.

“In terms of raising awareness, Newcastle have done a good job with their statement. I wonder if more could or should be done at political level between the UK and France because this is not an isolated matter, most of the games see these kind of issues.

“Uefa has the possibility to move games away from cities or countries if the club or local context is deemed unsafe. They haven’t made that choice yet, but think we are getting dangerously close to that solution.”