Measures are announced to prevent excesses between rival supporters as Olympique de Marseille hosts Benfica Lisbon on Thursday for the quarter-final second leg of the Europa League.
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Benfica supporters will be able to show support for their club only in the Vélodrome stadium, announces the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture, before the quarter-final second leg of the Europa League between Olympique de Marseille and Benfica Lisbon on Thursday April 18 . “Parking, traffic and access to the city center and around the stadium for all people claiming to be Portuguese supporters” are prohibited, details the prefecture.
Some 1,000 police officers will be deployed around the Vélodrome stadium, on public transport and in the city center of Marseille. Law enforcement drones will also be mobilized.
A metro chartered especially for Benfica Lisbon supporters
The 3,500 Portuguese supporters will be gathered at a “assembly point defined by the authorities”the only place where they can collect their tickets from their club “to prevent them from going to the city center or in contact with Marseille ultra supporters”.
They will then be transported to the stadium using a “specific metro, supervised by the national police and then escorted to the Vélodrome stadium”. Supporters who present individually at the stadium, outside this framework “will be refused entry”. OM lost the first leg (2-1) in Lisbon, but the Marseille club still has a chance of qualifying for the semi-final of the Europa League.
