1.12 The Rise and Fall of Bruno Carvalho - Court Testimony: Ricardo Gonçalves
Let's quickly recap what happened in our last post for you. It was the very first session that had taken place in the courts and the day was taken up entirely with the testimony of Bruno Jacinto the clubs now former club liaison officer, remembering the prosecution claims he is one of three moral authors of the attacks alongside Bruno de Carvalho the former club president and Nuno Mendes, leader of the Juve Leo.
We learned on the day of the attack Jacinto had spoken to
Tiago Silva at Cashina, the headquarters of the Juve Leo based inside the clubs
ground the Estádio José Alvalade at around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. He tried to
warn André Geraldes but couldn't raise him to forewarn his boss who would have
been the person who forewarned Bruno de Carvalho. He says he definitely didn't
then tell Silva that he couldn't get hold of anyone to forewarn them they were
going. So no reason to disbelieve him there I'm sure. He also confirmed he
deliberately didn't tell the PSP spotter (his own liaison with Portuguese
police) that they were coming. (Insert burning building gif - nothing to see,
move along, these aren't the droids you are looking for.) He calls the head of
security either at 1645 or 1700 hours to tell them they're on their way but
he's not idea what their intentions are but he can tell you they'll be looking
for three specific players but not because Tiago Silva told him, because he
read it on the internet presumably when he was driving there himself and should
have had his eyes on the road. I'd have had a fucking field day with the guy in
court. So when he gets there he decides the best place to stand is with five
leaders of the Juve Leo like they're having a mothers meeting and then he
inadvertently or rather deliberately plays a role in helping certain parties
then flee the scene by getting a blue BMW into the complex to allow people to
be picked up and driven off. You have to think had anyone been serious about trying
to prosecute him they'd have dug deeper on the points above but in reality he's
no more than a patsy or the filling in a Nuno Mendes / Bruno de Carvalho
sandwich. He's not a criminal mastermind. Clearly not a mastermind either. At
best a halfwit who is either naive, easily led or easily manipulated.
So there you go, all caught up. I'm not making light of the
attacks by the way which were abhorrent but if the opening read as absurd
that's because the court trials feels so far like we're operating in the
Theatre of the absurd. If this was a game of football this would be Sporting CP
2 CD Tondela at the Estádio José Alvalade in the 2025/26 season having just
reached the end of the 90 with 3 minutes additional time to play. Too much what
the actual fuckery to be considered healthy.
So we're going to look at the testimony of three main
employees in senior roles within the Sporting SAD starting with…
Ricardo Gonçalves
Day seven of the trial and the testimony of the then
director of security at the Sporting Academy, Ricardo Gonçalves is heard.
Gonçalves begins by confirming that at the time of the attacks he coordinated
the security of the academy, reporting to Vasco Santos who in turn coordinated
the overall security for the club.
Gonçalves guarantees to the court that his first knowledge
of the group's imminent arrival at Alcochete was in a phone call at 1644 hours
from Bruno Jacinto: "I remember the time of the phone call because I
reconstructed the events at the GNR station. Jacinto called me once and I
called him back a second time. He told me that fans of the Leonina Youth were
going to the Academy. They were going to talk to players but he didn't go into
much detail.”
Asked about the details of the call Gonçalves responded:
"He didn't talk about the number of people. I asked him how many were
going and for what purpose? He did not know how to give me an answer. He said
he didn't know. I spoke with Vasco Fernandes, technical secretary of the
football team. These situations were nothing new.”
"[Vasco Fernandes] told me he was going to call André
Geraldes. In the meantime I called Bruno Jacinto again to find out more details
and then called the GNR. He couldn't give me more information, he seemed
nervous and said he was on his way to the Academy. On the second phone call
something seemed strange to me. I got the feeling that he didn't know what was
going on.”
Asked about whether there had been similar visits previously
Gonçalves confirmed that yes there had been, with "20 or 30 supporters of
the Claques". "At the beginning of the season it was common for this
kind of meeting between the team captains and the fans to wish them good luck.
The authorities were informed and coordinated by security. The GNR was present
at the Academy. These were coordinated by the team manager, André Geraldes.”
Gonçalves confirms that it was the role and the football
department to authorise the visits. It was then up to Gonçalves to "make
sure that the visits were made safely". "Many of the times I
contacted the GNR they already knew why, the PSP issues reports.”
Having spoken on the phone with Vasco Fernandes and André
Geraldes, Gonçalves then called the command post of the GNR in Alcochete.
"It was ten or 12 minutes after Bruno Jacinto's first phone call."
Gonçalves adds: "I said that although I didn't have the exact information
on the number of fans, I must have said that it was 20, 30 or 40 people - this
taking into account the history." Liaising with local enforcement he's
informed that there was a patrol nearby and that it was going to be sent to the
Academy. "It didn't cross my mind that the visit of the claques would have
the consequence it had. I would always call the GNR because normally when the
claques came to the Academy I had information from different sources and always
arriving earlier - the day before.”
Gonçalves confirmed for the court that fans attending
Alcochete are not allowed to move freely. "They were accompanied by the
football department and security. Depending on whether all of them came or just
the leaders. There had never been any disrespect from the claques inside the
Academy.”
Gonçalves confirms he was: "always on the road next to
the gate of the Academy,” and makes a further phone call to the GNR to confirm
the claques arrival. “I didn't alert the Academy guard. The security guard
called me at the same time I was watching them. It was all very fast, a lot was
happening at the same time.”
“When they entered hooded I went to them in an attempt to
move them. It was next to one of the fields of the Academy, in the middle of
the road. I asked what they wanted and said that I had already called the GNR.
They told me: 'get out of the way, this is nothing to you'.”
Among the group, Gonçalves recalls, "despite having
their faces covered" that he recognised "ones known as Bocas, Valter,
Calisto, Ukrainian..." "They took on the role of leaders because they
came ahead. I always accompanied the group in an attempt to delay them. That
didn't happen. They headed for the training wing, towards the training
camps." At that moment, Jorge Jesus and part of the technical team were
preparing the field for training. "They passed through the fields, turned
left towards the buildings of the professional wing. There was an individual
who had a belt. He threatened me next to the building of the professional wing.
The flares were thrown there and the group broke. Most went to the professional
wing of the building.”
It appears the club did at least have some additional type
of security measures in place because Gonçalves confirmed the first doors were
closed after an alert. Mistakenly trying the door where the players boots were
held "They went to the next door and, when they realised that they were
closed, they forced the glass doors with automatic sensors. They did not stop.
They entered the building and immediately turned left, where there was another
door that was also closed." At this time both Manuel Fernandes and Pedro
Brandão came to see what was going on and opened the door of the office and
they went in there.”
Gonçalves continues that the: "Door that gave access to
the dressing room area was locked and damaged. The fire alarm broke and the
door was unlocked. I still put myself in front of them but it was of no use.
There were between 40 and 50 people and almost all of them entered the dressing
room with the aim of finding the players. They succeeded: they then entered the
dressing room area, which has two sliding doors. The door was open and Vasco
Fernandes was trying to close the door. At that moment, assistant coach Raul
José shouted that Jorge Jesus was outside. There was hesitation and they
managed to get into the dressing room area.”
"They threatened the players, they threw a flare in
front of my face. I saw a set of aggressions: a glacier* flying through the
air, individuals punching players, an individual with a belt hitting Mišić.
Valter, Bocas and Ucraniano entered the dressing room and went to Acuña and
Bataglia and assaulted them. Pushes and punches. Calisto and Alan were also
assaulted. Because of the way they moved, the focus was on Acuña and
Bataglia." A Member of the group shouted: "I'm going to kill you, don't
throw anything, you won't get out of here alive.”
Gonçalves describes how during the assaults, the belt
"caught Mišić's face" and one of the physiotherapists "was hit
by a glacier*." "I saw that Bas Dost had been hit and was bleeding. I
didn't see this aggression. He was in the hallway. The individuals ran away at
the same time. In conversation, Vasco Fernandes saw that one of the individuals
gave orders for them to leave. I looked at the clock.”
*I'm going to assume that's Google translate is stitching me
up like a kipper and that there were no glaciers floating about. It could
possibly refer to a refrigerator.
Gonçalves' explanation gives rise to the speed with which
everything had happened. "I went out with them, I called, I think to the
concierge to warn Rui Falcão that they were going out and to try to follow them
on CCTV. I also called the GNR to warn of it. Some jumped fences. I saw an
individual punching Jorge Jesus in the face as he ran away - he was ten or
fifteen meters from the door, in the garden. He was in shock at everything that
was happening. I couldn't identify this individual.”
Gonçalves returned to the place where he was initially, the
road: "I saw the GNR patrol car coming, it wasn't stopping. The normal
thing was to come to the interior to see if there were victims. I warned Rui
Falcão that there were no more individuals inside and indicated to the GNR
where they had fled.”
Gonçalves confirms for the court he was “threatened” on
several occasions including by the person who'd brandished the belt. "He
put one hand on my shoulder and mentioned that he was going to hit me with the
belt with the other arm. It was all very fast. At that moment it was not
pertinent to warn Vasco Santos [the club's security director], he could do
little or nothing.”
“I saw and spoke with Fernando Mendes. I only knew one of
the other people who was with him, BA. They were bare-faced. I saw them at the
end of everything having happened, when the others were already out of the
Academy and the confusion of the invasion had already passed. They are the
leaders of the Juve Leo and, indignant, I approached them, asked what the
purpose of that had been? They told me that they didn't know anything and that
they hadn't come to the Academy for that and that they had nothing to do with
the invasion. My indignation was because they did nothing. They told me that
they had only come to talk to Jorge Jesus." Gonçalves confirmed that the
two leaders from the claques group spoke with several employees of the Academy
and that only after seeing the images of the security camera did he realise
their entrance.
"The security guard called me to ask if he could let a
car in to pick them up. I was the one who gave permission for the car to enter
and for them to leave. I didn't know who the driver was.”
After the attacks Gonçalves describes how: "The GNR
requested the images from the control room and the screens were blank, I
thought it was very strange. I immediately contacted the IT department and one
of the technicians told me that from the stadium it was not possible to access
the images of the Academy, that there had been an interruption in communication
at 5:18 pm. I thought the worst, a conspiracy theory. "It was possible to
turn off remotely but he told me that it wasn't them. Only one was remotely
gone. I transmitted this to the GNR, which called elements of the criminal
investigation of the forensic team to the Academy to see what was going on. Our
technicians also came." And he adds: "There was a technical problem,
the images were always there but we couldn't access them because of the
activation of the fire alarms.”
Questions turn to a meeting held the day before at which
Gonçalves had also been present. Bruno de Carvalho asked if they were with him
"no matter what". And if they weren't, that was the time to say it so
"then they don't regret it". "I thought it was a meeting to
announce the departure of Jorge Jesus. But it was not talked about.” Gonçalves
reinforces that he remembers well the former president's expression:
"whatever happens.”
Then they switch to the incident at Madeira airport.
Gonçalves states: that there were the: "Usual exchanges of words when the
team loses. There were insults, 'they don't play anything, they're pimps, a
bunch of sons of bitches'. The usual in football. The PSP was there, which
tried to separate them and the team followed.”
Gonçalves justifies the lack of additional security measures
at Alcochete following the incident in Madeira stating: "No exceptional
security measures were taken at the Academy after the insults at Madeira
airport because there was no information of fans visiting Alcochete.”
Sidebar - This certainly appears contradictory to other
versions of events given. Fernando Mendes had warned Acuña and Battaglia that
they would pay them a visit to Alcochete. Two days after he defeat to Atlético
in a meeting with de Carvalho present and Vasco Santos the claques had
announced their intention to visit the academy.
Returning back to the trial the judge ordered Gonçalves to
identify the ring leaders of the invasion which he does as Tiago Silva (Bocas),
Pavlo Antonchuk (Ukrainian), João Calisto Marques and Valter Semedo.
Attention switches back to the aftermath of the attacks.
Gonçalves recalled seeing Bruno Jacinto with Sporting officials: "I think
I spoke to him but the conversation was very quick, I was outraged and asked
what that was. It made perfect sense for him to be there, because whenever
there was a visit from the claques he was present. This time, it arrived too
late. He was the club's liaison officer with the fans.” He adds adding that he
cannot recall seeing Jacinto engaging with the Fernando Mendes' group.
"The situation was chaotic. I don't know how Fernando
Mendes' group got in. He naturally took advantage of the confusion. Officials,
parents of players... There were many records left unmade in the midst of the
confusion."
The judge makes the point of asking several questions about
the presence of the Fernandes group and about exactly what Gonçalves said to
the GNR elements at the scene. "I told him [the GNR] that I hadn't seen
him doing anything wrong.”
Gonçalves assures that he was unaware of how the Mendes'
group arrived at the Academy, just as he did not speak to Ricardo Vaz at the
time. "Only days later. Vaz did not give orders to the concierge to let
cars in or out.”
Gonçalves confirms not having received the planning with the
training schedule that week. "They told me it was in the afternoon. It was
Vasco Fernandes who warned me of the training hours."
“Bruno de Carvalho arrived at the Academy after 6pm I don't
know how to be precise," De Carvalho insisted that "there is no
access to the CCTV images of Alcochete" and added that Bruno Jacinto had
already been at the Academy with fans.
Bruno de Carvalho's lawyer petitions the judges for part of
Ricardo Gonçalves' testimony to be considered null and void, claiming that
Sporting's security coordinator revealed part of private conversations and he
recalled that Bruno de Carvalho refused to make statements in the first session
of the trial. No mention of the outcome. The court breaks until the afternoon
session.
Upon the court's return Sporting's lawyer, Miguel Coutinho,
asks Gonçalves his first questions. His direct answers are however not always
reported as per the morning session. Discussions centre around the meeting in
April two days after the Atlético defeat. It's said that Jorge Jesus explained
to his squad that de Carvalho as club president was allowed to criticise them.
In the invasion he points out they all turned left as if they knew where they
should go.
Lawyer Sandra Martins, who represents several defendants
gets Gonçalves to confirm that the interior doors are locked manually, that
there is no mechanism that closes all the doors.
Gonçalves confirmed to the lawyer of Tiago Silva aka Bocas
that he occupied a prominent position throughout the invasion, identifying him
as one of the leaders. Gonçalves responds to a question about whether Jacinto
had prior knowledge of what the claques had planned upon their arrival:
"At that time I didn't think Jacinto knew what was going to happen. But
later yes. I asked him a few days later how he had known. Jacinto said that
Tiago Silva, Bocas, would have warned him.”
In respect of the meeting the day before the attacks when de
Carvalho spoke with staff Gonçalves repeats the phrase the then president used
questioning of those present at the meeting "Who is with me?"
Gonçalves repeats that in the Estádio José Alvalade it is only possible to
monitor whether or not the CCTV system in Alcochete is working and that you
can't access the images.
The lawyer Miguel Matias asks the judge to read the
statements made by the witness to the criminal police bodies and to prosecutor
Cândida Vilar. The objective is to compare the testimonies of Gonçalves during
the process and that of the trial. Matias wants to ascertain if he received any
pressure or threats between those testimonies and those of Monday in the court.
Gonçalves guarantees that he was not pressured by anyone. No one in the room
objects to the judge reading the three testimonies given by Ricardo Gonçalves
in this inquiry in full. In one of the testimonies read, Gonçalves stated that
he only received a phone call from Jacinto and he did not mention some of the
cases told to the court of some of the examples of aggression against players.
Gonçalves confesses that when he made statements at the GNR station it was a
very late time of the day: "I was the last to be heard." The lawyers
apparently laughed in the room. This adding to reports of de Carvalho
constantly shaking his head throughout the testimony provided by Gonçalves.
The judge stressed the point that far from being
contradictions in the statements they are in fact omissions. For example in the
statement provided to the GNR, Gonçalves spoke of the aggressions suffered by
Acuña and Battaglia, but did not mention, for example, the aggressions on the
trainer Ludovico or the player Mišić. "There are things that escape
memory,” he tried to reason away. Here he also only talks about the one phone
call with Bruno Jacinto and not two, as he said this morning to the court.
Matias makes the point of stressing that Gonçalves remains
at Sporting, unlike the trio of Jacinto, Geraldes and de Carvalho. "Does
this forgetfulness result only from the emotion of events?" Gonçalves'
response: "It results only from me being human."
Matias states he is pleased that the court interprets de
Carvalho's words ("tomorrow we will be in Alcochete") as not being
linked to the aggressions that would happen the next day, a fact relating to
the team having been due to train that day in Alcochete. And he recalls that it
is by the interpretation of these words that de Carvalho is being judged as one
of those with the alleged moral authorship of the attacks that occurred.
Lawyer Pedro Madureira states his displeasure with the
testimony of Gonçalves and will request an extraction of a certificate from the
Public Prosecutor's Office for failure to tell the truth, which causes
displeasure to the Judge Sílvia Pires.
In a response to lawyer Nuno Loureiro Coelho, Gonçalves
revealed that he is a GNR soldier, he spent 4 years in the intelligence
services and has a degree in security studies.
Gonçalves confirms that about 6 of the invaders jumped the
gym's fence during the escape whilst others ran to the door and turned in
different directions.
Gonçalves in response to a question by the lawyer Nuno Pego,
states that he kept the academy's door open because he did not know about the
invasion. In turn he called the GNR because it is part of club protocol that
the visit of fans to Alcochete always leads to an automatic warning to the
authorities.
Gonçalves tells the court "I viewed some CCTV footage
and not in detail. I was asked by the GNR to identify some individuals who
invaded the Academy.”
Lawyer Mário Batista wished to ascertain whether some of the
cameras were unavailable. "The images were collected by the GNR. I have no
idea if all the images are concrete. It is possible that there was some anomaly
in some chambers. The system is old. It's normal."
Gonçalves responds to Paulo Camoesas, Jacinto's lawyer.
"Jacinto reported to André Geraldes. He has no direct functions in the
security area. But as a Fan Liaison Officer, his job is to have direct contact
on security aspects. I have nothing to report (negative) about Jacinto. He was
in all the attendances of the claques in Alcochete. I had been working in those
functions for a year.”
Gonçalves confirms that "There was no way to contact
André Geraldes, because he was unreachable because of the Cashball
process"
Gonçalves responds to a question in regards to the claims of
telephone calls he made: "I made a call to Bruno Jacinto. If it is not
registered in the telephone records I already do not know why. But I called
him.”
In response to a question about what happened in Madeira
airport and whether he should have taken additional measures on the strength of
those: "What happened at Madeira airport has happened many times to
players. I didn't see the need to reinforce security at the Academy."
Gonçalves guarantees: "It is possible to turn off the
modem of the CCTV in Alcochete. But I don't know how."
So far Ricardo Gonçalves testimony seems to be the most
concise provided to the court. However, as always we seem to be left with more questions that we will probably never know the answers to. Given
I found it interesting that unlike Jacinto stood with the five leaders after the attacks, Gonçalves was more forthright with his approaches to them after the attacks and you're left with the impression that he wasn't naive enough to believe them when they said they had nothing to do with them and that they were only personally there to talk to Jorge Jesus. When 1 plus 1 equals 17 then clearly things do not add up.
In our next part we'll look at the testimony from Vasco Santos and André Geraldes. Basically we are running up the chain of command. Gonçalves reports to Santos as the overall head of security for Sporting SAD. Geraldes reported directly to the club president Bruno de Carvalho thus providing a fire break between the man at the top and everyone underneath in the Sporting SAD.
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