Le Figaro Marseille
The meeting was so sensitive that a travel ban on Portuguese supporters in Marseille was even on the table of the authorities. Finally, on Thursday, supporters of Benfica Lisbon (2-1 winner in the quarter-final first leg) will be allowed to attend the match between the Portuguese club and OM at the Vélodrome, but with enhanced security.
In a press release, the Bouches-du-Rhône police headquarters calls on the 3,500 Portuguese supporters expected in Marseille to go to
“an assembly point defined by the authorities.”
“On site, a security system will be implemented
,” explains the police prefect.
“It is only at this location that they will be able to collect their tickets from their club, to avoid them going to the city center or in contact with ultra Marseille supporters.”
Specific metros supervised by police officers
“They will then be transported to the stadium using a specific RTM metro system, supervised by the national police and then escorted to the Vélodrome stadium.”
The Bouches-du-Rhône police headquarters insists.
“Only supporters supervised within the framework of this system will be able to access the stadium”
and
“only supporters accessing the stadium supervised by the police from the assembly point will be able to display their status as supporters of the Portuguese club.”
In fact, others will be prohibited from parking, driving and accessing the city center of Marseille and the surroundings of the stadium. Pyrotechnic devices are also prohibited near the Vélodrome. Drones will also be deployed to support the action of the 1,000 police officers and soldiers deployed from Operation Sentinel.