As is always the way, Ireland were followed by a huge group of travelling supporters for Friday night's EURO 2024 qualifier against Greece in Athens.
There were terrific scenes in the city, despite the dour weather conditions, as Irish fans made their presence felt ahead of the must-win tie in the north of Athens.
When those fans made their way to the OPAP Arena on the outskirts of the city, however, there were unpleasant scenes awaiting them.
Dozens of Irish fans were left stranded outside the stadium, after an issue with the turnstile gates and poor organisation left many waiting until after kick-off to gain access to the arena.
Ireland fans left outside gates ahead of kick-off in Greece
Ahead of kick-off, the RTÉ commentators noted that one of the turnstile gates for the Irelend away end in Athens was not working, leading to delays for significant groups of fans in being permitted entry into the stadium.
Information on what the exact fault was was scarce, with communication with Irish fans outside the stadium seemingly equally poor to the organisation which had left them there in the first place.
Word began to filter through of how dire the situation was, with only one turnstile appearing to be in use for the Irish fans. Daniel McDonnell of the Independent said that he understood that "turnstiles for one block are not being used, this resulting in people being sent to another block which is getting more crowded."
One fan described the situation by saying: "Absolute shambles and we are being mashed onto the gate here. Not safe at all and lads here a lot less mobile than me. Crush oncoming and we are trying to calm things down."
Video footage and photographs began to emerge of the scenario faced by Ireland fans, with a huge crowd trapped outside the gates and efforts to bring them inside seemingly proceeding at a snail's pace.
Bad organisation for entry in Greece.
Has to be better than this. pic.twitter.com/Q3waxKlYCF— YBIG (@YouBoysInGreen) June 16, 2023
Picture from a friend stuck outside the stadium in Athens minutes before kick off, looks like a few hundred waiting to get in pic.twitter.com/YfAMfyWVok
— Seán O'Connor (@SeanOCSport) June 16, 2023
Greeks making an absolute hames of entry to Greece v Ireland in Athens - incredibly slow entry with what looks like ticket reader issues and loads not in 🇬🇷 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/IujTTPwDL9
— Alan Foley (@alanfoley79) June 16, 2023
5 minutes before kickoff and they aren’t letting the Irish fans in.. disgraceful pic.twitter.com/OH2p7nVlHm
— LOI FAN TV (@LOIFANTV) June 16, 2023
20 minutes before kick-off and the gates are all closed to the away section at the AEK stadium.
No Irish fans allowed in pic.twitter.com/WivPrRMtWE— Jamie Ralph (@ModernLepra) June 16, 2023
Sportswriter Jamie Ralph went on to say that, when the turnstiles were eventually opened, the game had already kicked off, and all Ireland fans were sent to the same section of the stadium without any ticket checks, leading to overcrowding in the upper tier.
It was a thoroughly disappointing and unnerving incident for the evening to begin with, and left many Ireland fans shaken and frozen out of the OPAP Arena, having travelled a huge distance to support their team.
SEE ALSO: Here's A Full List Of Irish Players That Have Been Released By Their Clubs
