The capital club has announced that it will contact the European football body on the question of the intrusive body searches suffered by many Parisian supporters before the Champions League match against Benfica in Lisbon.
Article written by
Published
Reading time : 1 min.
PSG “will ask UEFA” on the issue of “excessive excavations” suffered by its supporters before the match against Benfica in Lisbon, the Parisian club announced on Saturday October 8 in a press release quoted by AFP, after numerous testimonies from fans saying they were shocked by too intrusive palpations.
“The club is very attentive to the testimonies of its supporters who mention excessive searches in Lisbon. In response, the club will ask UEFA to shed light on these testimonies”, PSG wrote in a statement. In case of facts “particularly serious”the Parisian club invites those concerned to contact a dedicated service of the Paris Police Prefecture, the Stadium (Transversal service for the agglomeration of events).
In all high-level matches, the protocol provides for body searches of spectators by stewards to avoid the introduction of prohibited objects into the stadium, such as smoke bombs, for example. As Football Supporters Europe (FSE), a federation of national supporters’ associations, reported on Friday, Parisians have reported body searches “shocking” and “disproportionate” Wednesday in Lisbon before the PSG match against Benfica in the Champions League (1-1).
According to testimonies collected by France Bleu, a Parisian supporter present Wednesday at the Estadio da Luz mentioned palpations “shocking, hand inside (his) underwear for a good minute, before (him) put your hand in for a long time (his) crotch”. Another fan accused a steward of having “palpate the breasts for a long time”. Other supporters mentioned palpations under the underwear or at the level of the genitals.
Benfica claims for its part that it was not informed of any “irregularity” concerning the excavations carried out by a certified external company, under the supervision of the Portuguese police and representatives of the PSG.
Similar complaints had already been issued this season against Benfica. On September 8, following the match between Benfica and Maccabi Haifa (2-0) in the Champions League, the Israeli club issued a press release asking for “explanations” to his Portuguese counterpart and to UEFA concerning body searches judged “offensive” carried out on his supporters.