After three days hiding in a cement tube at Lisbon’s Luz Stadium, Greenpeace activists had planned to leap out during the Champions League game last Saturday and hang a protest banner embarrassing the event’s Russian co-sponsor, fuel giant Gazprom.
But at the 11th hour, the environmentalists were spotted by police snipers on the stadium roof and their elaborate plan was foiled.
A Spanish colleague not involved in the ruse said: “The objective was to hang a banner protesting against Gazprom’s activity in the Arctic”.
Protesters knew Gazprom bosses were at the game and wanted to get maximum publicity, Luís Ferreirim told Público.
The plan also involved trying to get UEFA to break its contract with the Russian gas and oil supplier, “so that it didn’t sully a game as beautiful as football”.
“Gazprom is using this contract to clean its image,” Ferreirim alleged.
This is not the first time Greenpeace has ‘gone after Gazprom’ and it almost certainly won’t be the last.
Ferreirim explained that as far as Greenpeace is concerned Gazprom has no “contingency plan” for any spills in the Arctic, and it would be impossible to clean fuel slicks as the area is in darkness for half the year and covered with ice.
Last year, 28 activists and two journalists were detained by Russian police for 100 days after Greenpeace invaded a Gazprom platform in the Arctic.
A month later, more protesters invaded a Champions League game in Basel, Switzerland – and this time they succeeded in hanging their banner.
“We want the Arctic to remain a wildlife sanctuary,” Ferreirim told Público, guaranteeing that further protests would be ongoing.
Meantime, the weekend’s 10 protesters were due to be released from police custody.
