The travel ban had the gift of annoying the president of OM, Pablo Longoria. “I cannot accept that our supporters, who have made enormous sacrifices to come to Portugal, cannot access the visitors' stand to attend a meeting that we are all looking forward to in this very difficult season,” he said. he declared in a press release. “And if we were to reach that point (that the decision is maintained), I would not attend tomorrow's meeting (Thursday) out of solidarity with our supporters but also in opposition to the unfair nature of this situation which everyone faces must assume its responsibilities,” he further indicated.
In this story, however, everything started from a common agreement: Marseille and Benfica had launched an “appeal to the authorities of the two countries so that the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League be played in the presence of supporters of the two clubs”. This Tuesday, the Portuguese club announced that this request was not accepted: “we deeply regret the decision of the French authorities, which calls into question the spirit of European competitions, depriving them of the presence of supporters, the essence of football , to support their teams during their trips to the opposing field, during this quarter-final of the Europa League
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It is therefore in response to this refusal that Benfica called on OM supporters not to travel to Portugal for tomorrow's match, while asking its own fans not to travel to Marseille on the 18th. april. His coach Roger Schmidt called for an agreement to allow supporters to attend the first leg in Portugal, and the return to France.