Oldham Event Centre vs Abdallah Lemsagam

Former Moroccan football agent and infamous owner of Oldham Athletic, Abdallah Lemsagam made yet another decision that might not be considered as a fan favorite.

Oldham Athletic currently sits 22nd in the league and is just 5 points with one game to play from 24th and the only relegation spot this season.

At the last home game against Leyton Orient fans returned their club scarves as a protest. Now fans find yet another issue that could have been resolved with communication.

The Club issued a statement on the official website which bars people without pre-paid match day tickets and season ticket holders from entering Roger Palmer Fans Bar and OEC.

Now the club has stated in their statement that Sufficient measures have been taken to limit the access of OEC only to pre-paid match day tickets and season ticket holders during matchday.

OEC side of the story

Oldham Event Centre is one of the premier venues for Events, Conferences, Functions, Weddings & Exhibitions. It currently serves everyone including people with matchday tickets on matchdays.

They argue that the Council and the Safety Advisory Group have agreed to the terms they put forth about the matchdays and allowing outside visitors. during matchdays.

They continue to say the Club and the Safety Certificate Holder, Mr. Abdallah Lemsagam has declined to sign the agreement that the Council and the Safety Advisory Group deemed fiar.

They also feel the restrictions that the Club is seeking to impose and, in particular, limiting access to the OEC to season ticket holders and purchasers of pre-paid match day tickets on match days is unilateral.

They state their position that the Club has no right to impose the restrictions and that in doing so the Club is acting contrary to the interests of the fans of Oldham Athletic.

They also made it clear that in the absence of a specific direction by the Safety Advisory Group or the Council, the OEC intends to continue to operate in accordance with the arrangements that have existed since July.

According to the agreement, the fans are welcome, ticket or no ticket at the Oldham Event Centre.

You can read the full statement from OEC by clicking here

Club and owner side of the story

The club explained why it was necessary to seek stricter entry into the building and stand on a matchday by giving the following reasons.

The sole responsibility for safety and security at the stadium at the time of a specific event (the match) rest solely with the Certificate Holder, Abdallah Lemsagam.

The Certificate Holder ( Abdallah Lemsagam) is not obliged, nor does he have to abide by the requirement of any third party, which in this case would be the OEC.

The club also claims that the steps that have to be taken in the interests of all supporters and that OEC failed to comply with few terms in the previous agreement and they are as follows.

The senior staff at the OEC and its supervisor have failed on numerous occasions to work in co-operation with the Safety Officer.

On two occasions the club has received written notifications from the Council and a National Agency regarding inspections when a fire door was found chained during a game.

Attempts have been made to ignore the Safety Officer when he has requested that fire doors be unchained.

Senior supervisors at the OEC have accommodated a fan banned by the club in the belief that they operate a safe haven.

Unauthorised entry has occurred into the OEC due to a lack of supervision or co-operation.

The club also said that OEC never received anything in writing from Oldham Council that their completed documentation was acceptable.

You can read the first statement from the club by clicking here

You can read the second statement from the club by clicking here

Fan reactions

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