Like a sense of déjà vu.
On the sidelines of the Europa League match between Benfica and Toulouse, won 2-1 by the Lisbon side in added time, Violets supporters experienced a scandalous mishap near the Estádio da Luz.
While the 3,000 and some TFC fans who made the trip are conventionally searched before entering the den of the SLB, many of them would have been victims of rectal examinations, direct palpations of the private parts or even sexual acts of intimidation by the Portuguese police.
Some were even threatened with exclusion from the stadium in the event of rebellion against this method, others simply bludgeoned by the police.
Facts quickly denounced on X (formerly Twitter) which were followed by a press release from the club this afternoon.
“More than 3,250 Toulouse residents have traveled to Lisbon in recent days to encourage our team, demonstrating, once again, impeccable conduct, like their exemplary behavior during the trip to Liverpool last November .
However, multiple testimonies from our supporters have reported inappropriate and excessive treatment, including excessive searches and acts of intimidation, on the part of the Portuguese authorities,” we can read on the Téf website.
Toulouse Football Club wishes to express its deep concern following the incidents reported by our supporters during the #SLBTFC Europa League match.
𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚́ ⤵️
— Toulouse FC (@ToulouseFC) February 16, 2024
The club also indicated that it had decided to “seize UEFA in order to relay these serious concerns and request an in-depth investigation into the facts” and encouraged its supporters to “contact the competent authorities, so that these incidents can be investigated with all due diligence. 'attention required ".
Testimonies which are all the more reminiscent of the fact that similar facts had been reported by Paris Saint-Germain supporters during a trip to Lisbon in the Champions League in October 2022. A month earlier, the Maccabi Haifa club had also press release on the subject, demanding explanations from UEFA and Benfica for searches deemed disproportionate and offensive on Israeli supporters.