Fenerbahce have come under fire after Aston Villa’s disabled support were ‘caged’ during Thursday’s Europa League tie.
Around 2,000 travelling supporters made the trip from the West Midlands to Istanbul as Unai Emery’s side ran out 1-0 winners through Jadon Sancho’s first-half strike.
But while the Villans enjoyed a victory on the pitch, their disabled fans reported being subjected to gruelling conditions as they watched on in the hostile Chobani Stadium.
In a post now viewed more than two million times, Villa’s ticketing support shared images of the away section their supporters were packed into – including the wheelchair enclosure.
The club account wrote: ‘The entire away section is covered with protective netting, which may slightly restrict visibility.
‘There is metal fencing at the front of each tier. The wheelchair section is caged. There are Perspex screens separating the visiting supporters section from the home supporters.’
It prompted an immediate backlash from fans across the world on social media, as well as the England and Wales Football Supporters Association, who wrote on X: ‘Really, is there any need for this @UEFA?’
A Villa fan named Jude, who is an amputee and has cerebral palsy, shared a video of himself inside the yellow cage on social media alongside two other wheelchair users.
Replying to one of the many comments criticising the conditions, Jude wrote: ‘We were escorted to the ground at 1pm, in the ground 3.5 hrs before kick off.’
One Villa fan commented: ‘Nightmare Jude – respect to you for dealing with this!’
Another wrote: ‘Jesus Christ, it’s literally a jail.’
A Fenerbache fan, however, offered up an explanation on Reddit, saying the enclosure is designed to prevent pitch invasions.
‘No Fenerbahçe doesn’t cage in away fans,’ they said. ‘That’s not a cage, it’s a separation fence. The wheelchair users enter their stands from the pitchside while the away fans enter from the stands, so this yellow fence is in between to prevent pitchstorms.
‘The picture was taken at an awkward angle, one of the fence doors was in a position that closed the wheelchair section in but it’s only like that so organising staff can walk through from pitch to stand. During the actual game it is not closed off on all sides. There’s a picture in my clarification post that emphasises this.
‘It’s a simple misunderstanding that our rivals are now using to weaponise against us. I am a disabled person myself and while I wish the section could be wider I hate how we are being weaponised to hate on rivals.’
But not all fans were convinced, as another Reddit user wrote: ‘Watching football isn’t that important to me. Being caged like animals. No thanks.’
Another said: ‘That must be a miserable way to watch a game.’
Villa’s ticketing support shared a series of posts on their X account prior, during and after the game, which left other fans branding it as ‘the worst away day ever’.
Prior to the match kicking off, Villa said there was ‘no storage available for wheelchair users who wish to sit in general access seating’.
They added that there would be ‘larger queues than normal’ for the toilets due to there being just two female/disabled toilets and two male toilet blocks across the lower and upper tiers in the 50,000 seater stadium.
The club wrote: ‘Toilets don’t have a key to access but there will be staff serving the disabled fans for toilets or catering so the toilet doors will be available throughout the day.’
Images of the toilets themselves have also been viewed more than two million times, with hundreds of replies criticising the Turkish giants for the conditions.
Supporters were also held back for more than one hour after the final whistle.
UEFA have been approached for comment.
