RANGERS chief executive Martin Bain last night expressed his concern at crowd disorder from some of his club's supporters in Bucharest but blamed both Unirea Urziceni and Uefa for creating the circumstances which led to it.
Seats were ripped up and thrown at stewards during half-time of the Champions League fixture at the Steaua Stadium, prompting Uefa to make a PA announcement threatening the suspension of the game. Rangers, who were fined £8,280 by Uefa for crowd trou
ble involving their fans during a Uefa Cup tie against Osasuna in Pamplona in 2007, could now face further punishment from European football's governing body.
But Bain, who last night held talks with Uefa's Italian match delegate Danilo Filacchione at the stadium, will mount a robust defence on the Ibrox club's behalf, claiming fans were provoked by inadequate entry arrangements and sprayed with CS gas as they tried to get in.
"I am obviously concerned with the scenes from some of the supporters within the stadium," said Bain. "Nobody wants to see that. However, I am equally concerned at the fact that our football club came and made representation to Uefa and Unirea a few weeks ago to organise the arrangements for the game.
"We asked for four turnstiles to be made open. And yet our fans turn up tonight and only two turnstiles are open. With that being the case there was a surge from the fans to try and get into the game on time, and CS gas was sprayed into the faces as they tried to access the turnstiles. That therefore led to tension inside the stadium which I find it totally unacceptable, and I will make representation to Uefa. There is no requirement whatsoever for scenes like that outside the stadium."
