“I feel dirty”… Ultras denounce “shameful” excavations in Lisbon

In memory of ultras, they had never experienced that. During the trip to Lisbon on Tuesday to follow their PSG team in the Champions League against Benfica, the Parisian supporters experienced what, over the testimonies collected, looks like a real ordeal. Generalized beating of the police as soon as the procession was launched towards the Luz stadium, throwing of projectiles from small bands of Benfiquist supporters and, above all, far too extensive pat-downs from the security agents before entering the stadium . Since then, many have started outraged on social media and shared their story under the hashtag “#BenficaRapedMe” (“Benfica raped me”). Contacted by 20 minutessome of them have agreed to give us their testimony.

A member of the Collectif Ultra Paris, Céline is used to traveling across France and Europe and, like many, she claims to have “never experienced this before”. If the warm welcomes of the opposing supporters are part of the life of ultra, that of Tuesday was particularly supported. “During the procession, Benfica supporters were waiting for us, we took beers on the face, stones, etc. The Parisians reacted but in a rather sober way, it was more insults, middle fingers but no physical reaction. And then the cops started beating us up at all costs, and it got worse when we arrived in front of the stadium, at the entrance to the parking lot. They glared, they started beating again, I witnessed it: the guy in front of me didn’t say anything and he ate a totally gratuitous blow. »

The specter of the Stade de France hangs over Lisbon

Fearing a movement of crowds, the leaders of the CUP would have tried to calm things down by asking their members not to react to the provocations of the Portuguese police. “I am not freaked out by nature, I have been traveling for 25 years, but I started to think that it could go wrong, continues this ultra. We all have in mind what happened at the Stade de France or in Indonesia more recently and we know how quickly it can turn tragic. Fortunately, the leaders intervened quickly to calm things down. The Parisians did not overreact because otherwise it could have gone wrong. But honestly, the cops, cowboys…”. Another member of the Collectif Ultra Paris, Philippe also witnessed violent scenes.

When I got to the visitor’s area, I found myself in front of the cops and saw a friend of mine, who had done nothing but walk towards the doors, take four big baton blows behind the back of the neck. by a policeman who came behind his back, ”he breathes.

So much for the first blade. The second will soon arrive, a few meters further, at the level of the security gates, for the traditional palpation carried out by the security agents. Céline relates: “There it was, I pass your hand under your bra, and I pass, I iron, I lift the bra to check that nothing has been hidden. I go down to the level of the lower abdomen, the crotch, I go back up again. The lady asked me to spread my legs once, then a little more, and a little more. Then she puts her hand behind my belt, she could clearly tell the color of my panties! When I came out of the search, I saw everyone’s looks, the guys were flabbergasted, some told us that they had taken hands in the buttocks, palpated the testicles. We were all shocked. I’ve known some rather stiff searches, in Barcelona or in Belgium, but some like that… It wasn’t a search anymore, it was touching. »

Passed after her friend Céline and her spouse, Edith, this subscriber to Auteuil and member of the CUP, has known worse if one dares to say. Here is his story.

At the beginning the palpation presented itself normally, the arms, the upper back, under the breasts but above the sweater. Except that afterwards, the lady passed her hand under my bra, she touched my breasts, and it lasted 10 to 15 seconds, it seemed endless. I tell him “that’s my bra there!”. She answers me ‘”it’s okay, it’s okay” and she continues. Then she runs her hands behind my back, around my waist, that’s fine, but then the same, she tucks her hands under my pants as if to fiddle with my panties. There I look at him I say “it’s my panties!”, I was so shocked that I couldn’t even say it in English! She then continues the palpation at the level of the legs, she asks me to dismiss thoroughly and, without laughing, she goes up to my crotch and I feel her hand on my genitals. And after that she tells me “it’s okay, you can go”, as if nothing had happened… I’m angry, just talking to you about it, I’m not well. »

“We were victims of sexual touching”

Also accustomed to searches, Philippe advances towards the security guard, having taken care beforehand to empty his pockets and spread his arms and legs. The rest will surprise him: “The guy walks towards me and directly he puts his hands in my underpants and he starts touching my genitals, buttocks. I was hallucinated. We were also told that a girl had had her vagina touched…” Instinctively, he could have reacted, sketching a movement of recoil or nervousness, but, he says, “at once I close my mouth because if I had made the slightest gesture, since there were the helmets right next to it, I think that at present I would no longer have a face, or at least big bruises. “They were just waiting for us to react,” confirms Edith.

Three days after the events, Philippe feels “dirty”. “I took three more showers today to wash off the grime on me. We were victims of sexual touching, no more and no less. “At the time, I said to myself ‘but in fact we were collectively raped by the stewards'”, engages Edith. For their part, Philippe and Céline also recount the treatment reserved for one of their diabetic friend who, after having given formal proof that he was indeed suffering from diabetes, saw one of the stewards confiscate his chocolate bar and “throw it in the trash “.

For its part, if the PSG has not yet officially reacted, it takes the case very seriously and is investigating to shed light on what happened, pending possible feedback and complaints to UEFA. The European body could anyway look into the case of Benfica since, according to certain Portuguese and French colleagues, this is not the first time that opposing supporters have had to experience such behavior this season. On September 6, Maccabi Haifa fans would have suffered more or less the same fate as the Parisians on Tuesday. And Edith to conclude: “UEFA must sanction Benfica so that this never happens again in a stadium. We are human beings, we are not animals. We don’t have to experience that by coming to see a football match.


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