“Beaten the elderly, women and children.” Exhibited by the club at Uefa-Corriere.it

The return to the quarterfinals Champions of theinter, 12 years after the last time, it was partly ruined by the ticket chaos that prevented hundreds of Inter fans from attending the match at the do Dragao. The problem arose on the eve of the match and was only partially resolved a couple of hours before kick-off thanks to the intervention of the Viale Liberazione club.

Porto, too late, forbade Inter fans from entering the stadium with tickets for sectors other than the one reserved for guests. And here is the attempt to resolve the issue, but the situation has degenerated: «Something that goes beyond human rights and I will try to do something with my lawyers as soon as I get back, if they deem it appropriate. What happened in Portugal is shameful», said Francesco Tosato, who arrived in Portugal by bicycle from Mantua on 28 February.

“Affected elderly, women and children”

“I arrived at the stadium at 18.40 and entered at 20.30, pushing – he continued – They hit the elderly, women and children with batons, there was no need. We were all crowded together. Some girls and children even started crying. Many were left out. I managed to get in by pushing a little, but it wasn’t easy. And I had the ticket in the away sector. There are people who have made sacrifices for tickets and travel and have not been able to see anything».

There are also those who have been less fortunate than Francesco. It’s about Michael Marazzi, a 25-year-old Inter fan from Tradate, in the province of Varese: «When Porto announced that Inter supporters could only take seats in the away sector, I thought I’d enter as a Portuguese fan, perhaps by buying a team shirt . Then we were told that we would enter as long as we didn’t bring scarves and flags. It can be seen that afterwards there was a lack of communication with those who managed the flow ».

Marotta: “I’ve seen children and entire families cry”

There is really a lot of anger, a lot: «Many were sent back to the away sector and we queued up a lot on the stairs. They told us to wait and we couldn’t get in because they closed everything. I had a ticket for the distincts but even there they didn’t let us in, without explaining the reason. It was useless to say that we would have entered as neutral fans. I had the scarf from the match, half from Porto and half from Inter and the steward seeing the Nerazzurri color told me that I supported Inter at the time. An absurd thing. Those who managed to get on also found their tickets cancelled.

Hence, after the match, the words of CEO Marotta: «We are close to the fans left out. We have to understand, it’s a serious fact that must never happen again. We will make a complaint to UEFA. I have seen children and whole families cry. It is the bitter aspect of this day».