Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has refuted the claims of Jose Mourinho suggesting they didn’t bear the responsibility of escorting the team bus to the stadium.
UEFA had to postpone the kickoff of Manchester United’s Champions League home encounter with Valencia by five minutes to make sure the game starts smoothly as United team bus reached the venue just 45 minutes before the game.
Mourinho explained they didn’t receive the due escort as the bus made its way through the congested traffic on its own to the Old Trafford but Chief Inspector Andy Sutcliffe quashed all the complaints.
He explained police were never meant to provide an escort to the team bus as it was not in their policy. “All police deployments are carried out following a comprehensive risk assessment process and specifically in respect of escort team buses, are only ever undertaken on occasions when there is intelligence or information to suggest a risk of threat or harm to the players.
“GMP has previously used police vehicles to accompany a team’s coach but after a review of our core policing responsibilities, it was decided that we would no longer provide this service at every fixture. We consulted with the relevant football clubs over a period of months to allow them adequate time to plan ahead for their journeys to the stadium.
“Every fixture is assessed individually and we will continue to work with all clubs to provide an appropriate policing response.”
