Lusa contacted Galp after the opposition People's Party on Wednesday called for Andrade's resignation, describing as “reprehensible and serious” the fact that he travelled at Galp's invitation to France to see matches in which Portugal's national team was involved, as reported earlier by the online edition of Sábado magazine.

On Thursday, Galp noted in a statement sent to Lusa that it has been an official sponsor of the national team since 1999 and that, besides using the team's image and symbols in advertising campaigns, it seeks to increase the visibility and impact of the sponsorship in other ways, such as by issuing invitations to people and institutions with which it has relations.

Galp stressed that "this kind of initiatives is common and considered acceptable on the ethical level of international business practices" and that "the only thing that is intended with each and every of these invitations is to foster the spirit of unity around the national team, whose values fit with those of the Galp brand."

Guests in these initiatives, it said, include business partners, suppliers, advertising agencies, representatives of institutions and dozens of clients, large and small.

"All travel together in open and transparent fashion, in a charter flight ... without any secrecy or differentiated treatment, leaving and returning on the day of the game itself," the note states.

As to "individual invitations", Galp did not make any specific comments.

On Wednesday, the opposition Social Democratic Party also called on the government to clarify the situation regarding the trip paid for by Galp, recalling that the company has ongoing legal disputes with the state concerning fines worth several million euros.

Andrade has said that he intends to reimburse Galp for the cost of the trip, while viewing the invitation as normal. In a note sent to Lusa on Wednesday, he said that he had accepted the invitation from the company "as a sponsoring entity of the national squad" and that he saw it as "natural" and of a "social" nature, giving rise to no conflict of interest.