Manchester United have reportedly kickstarted an investigation after supporters were tear-gassed by French police during their 2-2 Europa League draw with Olympique Lyonnais.
After the final whistle, United fans were held back at the Groupama Stadium for over an hour.
Away fans still held in the ground (in stands and concourse) at midnight. Over an hour after the final whistle pic.twitter.com/B0TbUrC0B5
— Andy Mitten (@AndyMitten) April 10, 2025
Soon after, posts surfaced on social media, depicting supporters on the receiving end of pepper spray launched by French police.
According to the Daily Mail, some members of United’s travelling support have claimed the police behaved in an overly aggressive manner.
The newspaper adds that United are looking into the treatment of their fans in an effort to get to the bottom of the matter.
The Rhône prefecture said in a statement [via The Guardian], “English fans were seated in the away section waiting to be allowed to join their bus. They attempted to force their way through the security measures deployed by the national police. Projectiles were also reported to be thrown at the police. The police therefore used moderate, proportionate and necessary force (tear gas) to restore calm.”
“All the English supporters were then led to the buses to leave the stadium. It was a very brief moment and the rest of the event went well overall. We are committed to doing everything possible to welcome foreign supporters in safe conditions.”
Football Supporters Europe slammed the police, insisting that teargas was deployed after fans were prevented from using the toilets.
Ronan Evain, the executive director of Football Supporters Europe said, “It is completely unacceptable that the police would think it’s OK to stop people from going to the toilets – then the reaction to it is completely disproportionate. 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.”
“The police are 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 [via the spray] can’t be justified.”
Manchester United Supporters Trust chief executive Duncan Drasdo wrote on X, “90 percent of the time on Euro aways if there is aggro it’s with the police rather than local fans.”
“Most countries can do this right but there are almost always problems with the French police. All too often they create the aggro they are supposed to be preventing.”
United are back in action on Sunday when they go away to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle. Kick-off is at 16:30 BST.
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
