Supporters group criticises police as Man Utd look into fans’ treatment in Lyon

Manchester United are looking into treatment of their fans in Lyon, with Football Supporters Europe criticising the police’s “completely disproportionate” and “unacceptable” use of tear gas following Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final.

Thursday’s first leg in France was attended by 2,800 away fans, who were required by local authorities to travel to a conference centre 13 miles away from the city centre to collect wristbands before boarding shuttle buses to the ground.

The significant expense and inconvenience of those demands were compounded by a malfunctioning public transport network and large queues at the pick-up point before being taken to the Groupama Stadium.

More issues were to follow after the 2-2 draw against Lyon, with tear gas deployed by police after fans attempted to use the toilet as they were held back for an hour before being ferried to the pick-up point.

The PA news agency understands United are looking at the issues and Ronan Evain, executive director of fan network FSE, has criticised the police response.

“It is completely unacceptable that the police would think it’s OK to stop people from going to the toilets, and then the reaction to it is completely disproportionate,” he told the PA news agency.

“It is human nature that people will lose their temper if the police take away basic elements of basic human dignity like being allowed to go to the toilet.

“There, the police is responsible for creating this tension, for escalating it instead of taking the only logical decision in this situation, which is to permit people to go to the toilet, even if it’s only small groups.

“That they’re choosing to escalate this even further can’t be justified.”

FSE are working alongside the Manchester United