'Lost' Benfica fans story was a hoax

Benfica's players react after their Uefa Europa League quarter-final, second leg match against Eintracht Frankfurt in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany on April 18, 2019. PHOTO | DANIEL ROLAND |

What you need to know:

  • French media company franceinfo revealed on Friday that the story was a hoax.

BERLIN

The story of two Benfica supporters who supposedly drove to the wrong Frankfurt in Germany when they were trying to get to a Europa League match was revealed Friday to be a publicity stunt.

A number of international media outlets, including AFP, ran the story of the two men who said their car's satnav had led them to Frankfurt an der Oder, 610 kilometres (379 miles) from Germany's financial capital where the match between the Portuguese side and Eintracht Frankfurt was played on Thursday.

French media company franceinfo revealed on Friday that the story was a hoax.

The Instagram account that described the supposed journey was in the name of Alvaro Oliveira, but was in fact run by an actor, Marcelo Rodrigues.

An Instagram post on Friday confirmed that the stunt was carried out by a German football magazine called 11Freunde.

Benfica lost the quarter-final second leg match 2-0, meaning Frankfurt won the tie on away goals and progressed to a semi-final against English side Chelsea.