UEFA Rejects French Request to Change Olympiacos vs. Rennes Kickoff Time

There are updates on the planning for the UEFA Europa League match between Olympiacos and Rennes.

Both French authorities and Rennes officials are doing everything possible to change certain arrangements and move next week's match to the French club's preferred time, to avoid a repeat of the organizational issues that recently arose during the Olympiacos vs. Olympique de Marseille fixture.

However, this time, the Greek side was prepared for what Sport24 describes as a French ploy.

The outlet explains that once the decision was finalized to hold the fourth matchday of the Europa League league phase on Wednesday, November 4, one day earlier than originally scheduled due to the major strike announced for November 5, attention turned to the kickoff time.

According to available information, French officials kept insisting until Tuesday evening that the match be played on the evening of Wednesday, November 4. Notably, the French sports minister intervened with UEFA and clearly requested that the game kick off at 7:45 p.m., a time Rennes also requested.

However, UEFA ultimately refused to change the agreement, which Olympiacos had also approved. As a result, the match will kick off at 5:30 p.m. Greek time (4:30 p.m. in France).

Olympiacos is now waiting for Rennes to contact the French police to clarify how tickets will be distributed to Greek supporters traveling to Roazhon Park.

According to information that has emerged, Olympiacos is pressuring all relevant authorities to make decisions and provide information immediately, ensuring there are no delays and that the club's supporters from Piraeus know how to proceed ahead of the match in France.

The extraordinary circumstances arising from the protests and demonstrations in France naturally require appropriate planning and security measures to ensure that Olympiacos supporters can arrive at and leave the stadium safely.

The Piraeus club will therefore closely monitor developments in France to ensure a safe and satisfactory experience for its supporters planning to travel to watch their team play.

Olympiacos have made a very positive start to their UEFA Europa League campaign this season. Under new head coach Imanol Alguacil, they began their journey with a 2-1 win over Jagiellonia on September 16, with goals from Armando González and Roman Yaremchuk.

They subsequently pulled off a surprising 1-0 victory over Olympique de Marseille at the Vélodrome Stadium on October 15, with Santiago Hezze scoring the winner.

In their most recent fixture, they continued their winning run by defeating Sparta Prague 1-0 at Georgios Karaiskakis on October 22, with Armando González finding the net.

Therefore, despite sitting fifth in the league-phase standings, Olympiacos have a perfect record, collecting nine points from their first three matches and winning all three.