1.16 The Rise and Fall of Bruno Carvalho - The Court Cases: Rui Patrício

Quick recap, in out last part we looked at the testimony of three of the four players who had been specifically targeted by those defendants who had invaded Alcochete on May the 15th, 2018, those being William Carvalho, Marcus Acuña and Rodrigo Battaglia. In addition to what happened on the day itself each provided their version of events which culminated in the incident at the academy. And on with the post …

It was the turn of former club captain Rui Patrício to give his testimony to the court. Now a Wolverhampton Wanderers player and residing in England he gave his evidence via Skype over the best part of three hours and would discuss not only the attacks, but what had happened in the weeks proceeding with the then club president Bruno de Carvalho and associated members of the Juve Leo.

Patrício it's fair to say had a tempestuous relationship with not only de Carvalho but also the claques in the final weeks of the season. It should be noted that a section of Sporting fans threw flares close to his proximity in the penultimate game of the 2017/18 Liga season which came in the Dérbi de Lisboa against Benfica. After his mistake led to the winning goal in the 2-1 loss to Marítimo in Madeira on the last day of the campaign, members of the Juve Leo highlighted him for particular criticism. Despite that he maintained that prior to this he maintained a good relationship with the claques.

Having formally introduced himself to Judge Sílvia Pires he confirms that of the defendants he only knows de Carvalho who is not present in the courtroom.

Patrício confirms that he was in the dressing room of the academy when he first heard the noise from the fans. He noticed shouts and saw the fans entering the locker room. He notes that the majority of the squad were present in there and describes how Vasco Fernandes, the team's technical secretary had desperately tried to close the door but was unable to prevent the fans from entering the area. "They came to the dressing room with their faces covered. They went in one after the other. As soon as they started going in, they began attacking everyone.”

"They came in aggressively. One of the people who was in the dressing room immediately got kicked. The first ones went straight for William Carvalho. I tried to separate them. About four more joined us trying to take my shirt off. One of those who assaulted William grabbed my arm and tried to twist it. 'Do you want to leave? I'll smash your mouth in,' he told me.”

"It was a very tense moment. William was punched in the chest. Salin also came to defend me. I couldn't understand what was happening in the rest of the locker room. I realised there was a lot of confusion, but I couldn't tell who had been attacked. There was confusion, smoke, shouting. They threw flares when they came in. I saw the smoke and everything burning. I heard a lot of shouting. We tried to calm them down, but they were very aggressive. I don't remember what they were saying. It was a very tense moment. My thought was that they wouldn't kill us. They called us sons of bitches. They didn't come to kill, but when they came in…”

Patrício recalls hearing a fire alarm and adds that one of the attackers threw a water canister but wasn't aware if it struck any of the players or coaching staff present. "I saw Bas Dost with stitches in his head*, I saw coach Jorge Jesus, who was bleeding from his nose and mouth.”

* Presumably that's either a poor translation or he meant to say cuts which would later need stitches.

Patrício admits to not having seen any of the attackers with a belt in hand but does state that himself and William were the two targets of the group. Finally the attack stopped but Patrício adds “In the end, we were afraid they might come back.”

Discussing what happened after the attacks he said: "I saw supporters with their faces uncovered outside. I recognised Fernando Mendes from the supporters' group by sight. I didn't speak to him. He was with someone, but I don't remember who. I saw William talking to him, but I didn't approach. I saw Bruno de Carvalho after the attack. He showed up at the Academy. I don't think André Geraldes did. Bruno de Carvalho didn't speak to me. I didn't see him talking to other players.”

He confirms that this wasn't the first visit from the claques to the training facilities but notes in general during his time at the club that it generally only happened once a season.

Patrício paints a picture of the buildup in the month preceding before the attacks took place. “There were two meetings following the game against Atlético de Madrid. There was a post from the former president criticising the players and the team. Because of that, we requested a meeting with him the following day. Geraldes said he would communicate this to the president. When we arrived in Lisbon, we were told that the president wasn't going to hold the meeting and that it would be postponed to Sunday after the game. We were speechless. The meeting was very important to us. We also decided to publish the post. We were suspended after the post. The meeting was rescheduled for Saturday afternoon in Alvalade. Players, Geraldes, and the president were there. It was a meeting in a very bad atmosphere. He said he was the president and could do whatever he wanted. He accused us of wanting to leave the club. The meeting ended and nothing came of it.”

"Until then, there hadn't been a hostile reaction from the fans. William said that Mustafá had told him that the president had ordered the players' cars to be smashed. Bruno de Carvalho denied it," he recounts. "Bruno de Carvalho put the phone on speakerphone and asked Mustafá if he had ordered anyone to be attacked. Mustafá said no.”

"After the Madeira game, several fans insulted us at the stadium. At the airport, I noticed Fernando Mendes talking to someone. There was a bit of a commotion. I saw Nelson separating them and trying to calm Fernando Mendes down.” 

The following day, Rui Patrício states that he was in another meeting with Bruno de Carvalho. "Geraldes was there, along with two or three other members of the board. Besides the players. It was a very strange meeting from the start. Completely different from the others. Both in content and in the way Bruno de Carvalho spoke. He said that if we needed anything, he would be there for us. That we were a family. 'Whatever happens, will you be ready to play in the Cup final?', he asked. My perception was that he was going to fire the manager. He then told Acuña that he had created a complicated situation with Fernando Mendes, who had called him all night.”

Patrício adds for context that Acuña had offered to speak with Fernando Mendes.

“Bruno de Carvalho said he would go to the Academy one day that week. There was no training scheduled for the following day. The president said we would train at the Academy the next day, during the meeting. Later, we received notification of the training time from Vasco Fernandes.”

"Bruno de Carvalho contacted me via messages at that time. I never responded. I had cut off my relationship with him.”

Patrício claims that after the last meeting on the 14th of 2018: "Bruno de Carvalho said at that meeting that if he needed to hit someone, he didn't need anyone.”

Patrício seems in no doubt who was the root cause of the growing issues with the claques. "We felt that the president was trying to turn the fans against us, the players. I felt that if there was a less than ideal result, the fans would turn against us. Even more so.”

When the Judge Sílvia Pires asks him about images of flares being thrown at him during the Dérbi de Lisboa he responds by saying: "I went forward to avoid being hit by the flares. I was really upset. I didn't interpret them as being directed at me personally. There have been games with flares thrown onto the field. It happens in some games."

The magistrate then tries to establish whether after the Paços de Ferreira game there has been animosity from the fans. Patrício states: "The public was with us. Even after the defeat in Madeira, against Marítimo.”

"I always felt the support of Juve Leo at the games. I had a normal relationship with them.”

The lawyer for, Bruno de Carvalho's Miguel Fonseca, asks Patrício whether the then-president of the club raised his voice at the players meeting on April 7th. "He told us that William and I were behind all of that," Patrício says that he addressed Bruno de Carvalho informally ("você") at that meeting and he didn't like it.

Rui Patrício's testimony ends with a final set of questions concerning a €500,000 bonus offered to the players for the penultimate game against Benfica, something the players had refused the offer of. Now bear in mind this is the Portuguese top flight and not the Premier League and to certain players in the squad a share of that money certainly wouldn't have gone amiss. The reason for not accepting the offer? De Carvalho's insistence on the condition that he has to go to the locker room to deliver it. "With everything that was happening, and everything the president was doing against us, we did not accept the prize.”

Patrício concludes his testimony by adding:

"Even today, when I go to Portugal, I'm wary, looking around in the street. I feel that I'm not safe in Portugal. There are still malicious fans against us. I don't feel safe, even after a year and a half. I filed a police report because I received many threats after this. I know there were more police near my house. I became more careful about the times I came home, I didn't go into the garage. I had to take measures. Me and my family. I had to leave. It was impossible to stay in Portugal. If it still affects me today, even being in England... There are moments when I still relive it. I try to overcome it. But there are nights when I still relive it."

Miguel Fonseca, Bruno de Carvalho's lawyer, considered that the witness had "a very selective memory" during his testimony.

Note - Now I'm not a qualified psychiatrist but from Patrício's testimony I would point out that de Carvalho's behaviour around this time is that of a Jekyll and Hyde character in nature. Having myself once succumbed to mental pressures and been on the verge of a full nervous breakdown I would suggest that not only was his behaviour highly erratic but does demonstrate to some degree a battle of some sorts with his mental health or at best an inability to control his temper. He swings between suspending the players following their perceived audacity for daring to question his position of power to offering a sweetener of €500,000 to them for the game against Benfica. Note the need for retaining control though with the caveat that in order to receive the bonus he would have to enter the sanctity of the players changing rooms to do so. Patrício demonstrates through his testimony the links between the leaders of the Juve Leo and de Carvalho. In respect of the phone call made to Mustafá about William's claims about vandalising the players cars I'd suggest that didn't prove anything. What was he going to say if it was genuinely the case? I'm sure the man is many things but he's not going to willingly admit to what amounts to a potential criminal act. Note in addition how the club captain admits he cut off all communication with de Carvalho. We'll delve into that in a bonus post later in the series.

I hate being in the spotlight. I don't celebrate birthdays. I don't like to be the centre of attention. However when I was drinking to oblivion, I found myself always in the middle of it everything and my inner demons caused havoc. I don't want these intermissions to come across as me being the story because here I'm clearly not. But I don't want anyone to call me a hypocrite. I was fully out of control and whilst that doesn't qualify me as an expert if you were to ask for my opinion, I'd suggest the Bruno de Carvalho was cut from the same mould. As they say, if the cap fits, wear it.

I have to admit that until I started writing these posts I'd never given much thought to what actually had occurred on the day. It was a given that the actions of those involved were deplorable and you couldn't help but feel horrified that the attacks occurred. But when you pour over the details in intricate details you do get a sense of how terrifying it was for all those on the receiving end even if for some the abuse aimed at them was physical rather than verbal.

You have to imagine that just the sight of people entering your place of employment with their faces covered would be traumatic enough. You wouldn't know if there is was a larger group waiting outside the building ready to join in the attack and by all accounts they were clearly outnumbered. We don't know if people fought back but in a situation like that it's best not for anyone to try and be a hero because it would only have exasperated the situation further. One person saying or doing the wrong thing is like a powder keg waiting to happen. I can remember one night when a friend of mine said the wrong thing to a group of squaddies. There were four of us in total and twenty plus of them and somehow I managed to deescalate the situation which was about to turn violent. Just at the point it had calmed down the original cause of the incident returned and tensions rose instantly again and in the end it was me threatening him with violence if he didn't leave, to which thankfully he quickly took the hint and didn't return, that acted as a sign of peace. Had I not mediated we'd have been absolutely fucked.

The noise from those entering initially, breaking through the doors to gain access, the throwing of flares burning at the temperature some two and half times water boils filling the room with smoke. You've got a full age range within the walls. Palhinha at this point is a kid, Rafael Leão too. It must have been particularly traumatising for both. You’ve got staff in their sixties presumably not as mobile as they once were. All around your fight or flight response is kicking in whilst the adrenaline levels of the attackers is rising. For many their response is a natural state of panic, the flight, but the exits are blocked. You've no idea if this is going to last an hour or a minute. Time stops when chaos and panic ensues. You've got things being thrown, punches, kicks being traded and then attacks with the end of a belt. People are shouting all around. It's discombobulating. The attackers in the main have the benefit of their faces being covered amongst the smoke. The players would have been in their kit feeling all the more vulnerable. When would it all end and more importantly how would it all end? None of them knew those answers.

All told it could have been way more serious which isn't to underplay what happened at all. But it could have done. We have to be thankful the worst injuries sustained were lacerations, a bloody nose and some bruises. It's hardly surprising they players and staff claim to have been traumatised and suffering from nightmares long after the event itself. They're clearly experiencing PTSD which goes back to the question of how the final was allowed to be played? Based on the testimony provided the game at a minimum should have been postponed even if it meant the club picking up the tab. None of the players were clearly in a fit state either physically or mentally to play. Neither were the coaching and supporting staff. You've been attacked by a group of your own fans. Imagine stepping out onto a pitch with thousands of your fans surrounding you. Your mind can be your own worst enemy. What happens if we lose today? Will fans charge onto the pitch at the end? Will we be attacked? That's after the game. What about before? Would they get safely to the stadium in the first place or travelling back. That question forever in your mind of what if? What it we lose the next game? Does that mean another section of claques will visit the training ground again? It's not hard to see why certain players chose to rescind their contracts. It's not just a fear for your own safety but also for the welfare of your family as many pointed out.

At the time you've got a president who you don't trust on any level. He should be the one who ensures the duty of care to each employee. Ultimately the buck stopped with him. They've been attacked by him in the media, had their commitment questioned, some have been initially suspended in turn for questioning his perceived abuse of power with the social media outbursts. It is quite frankly no wonder why none of them trusted him as far as they could throw him and that when he turned up after the attacks not one of them wished to speak to him. In their situation I'd pin the blame squarely at his door.

Things like that stay with you for a lifetime. If you've no connection to Portugal, have no family there, maybe it's easier to distance yourself from it all. Yet returning even right years later will trigger something in you without doubt. Coentrão chose to be a fisherman. Mathieu chose to work in a sport shop in France. You imagine both just wanted the normality of a nine to five job away from the pressures of being a professional footballer. I say nine to five for Coentrão as a general expression in case you are a fisherman reading that and raging at me thinking ‘try 2am to 11am writer boy and that's if we're lucky!’ Hopefully though you all got my point.

Just because you kick a ball around and get paid for it doesn't shield you from being human.

I've frequently mentioned the ego of de Carvalho but in hindsight I wonder if I should have described some of his character traits on top. He's clearly a narcissist.

Key Symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)

Grandiosity: A delusional or inflated sense of self-importance.

Need for Admiration: An excessive, constant craving for attention and validation.

Lack of Empathy: Unwillingness to recognise or care about the feelings and needs of others.

Entitlement: Expecting special treatment and unquestioning compliance with their expectations.

Exploitative Behaviour: Manipulating or using others for personal gain.

Envy: Being envious of others or believing others are envious of them.

Fragile Self-Esteem: While appearing confident, they are deeply sensitive to criticism, reacting with rage or shame.

Types of Narcissism

Overt (Grandiose) Narcissism:

Characterised by arrogance, showiness, and a loud, confident demeanour.

Covert (Vulnerable) Narcissism: Marked by insecurity, defensiveness, and hypersensitivity to criticism, often hiding behind a victim mentality.

Impact on Relationships

Narcissism causes significant issues in relationships, characterised by:

Control and Dominance: Using manipulation or rage to maintain power.

Emotional Neglect: Disregarding a partner's feelings.

Gaslighting/Manipulation: Challenging a partner's reality to maintain control.

Constant Conflict: Driven by the narcissist’s need to be right and lack of empathy.

You could even argue that he borders on being sociopathic but I'd probably be on safer legal ground if I stick with the first definition. 

We see so many examples littered through these posts that tick the boxes throughout his period as club president. In fact he ticks all the boxes so that he could actually be overt and covert depending on the changes in the weather.

Unquestioning compliance - we've learned how he reacted in his first two seasons by sacking both Jardim and Silva and then Jorge Jesus confirms that he wanted out so badly that he didn't want a penny in settlement for the remainder of his contract which meant he was walking away from €6m still on the table. We saw how he suspended 19 players in turn for challenging his own unacceptable behaviour after the defeat to Atlético Madrid. In the meetings that followed between staff and players with de Carvalho he clearly presents the case that you're either with him or against him, choose a side. Everyone it appears in the main chose to go against him. He even threatened to play the B side against Paços de Ferreira.

The notion of envy, we came across it in the second season when he fires Silva who was popular with the fans, this despite the young coach having won the Taça de Portugal just four days previously.

Sitting on the players bench is a clear indicator of his narcissistic tendencies. There's no hidden message there. It's a none too subtle statement that he thinks he belongs there and that given his own way he'd be the mister.

Fragile self esteem - remember the April meeting where by the end he's apologising and is quoted by everyone there as having said “do whatever you want.” The fans in the meeting were calling him out for his posts against the player's, they've shamed him, and the way he acted firstly in the posts and the subsequent suspensions demonstrates rage.

You look at the impact narcissism has on relationships. Four failed marriages, three broken relationships with coaches, a room full of players who won't speak to you and a partridge in a pear tree.

There's always the need for control over players, staff, agents. The only group he doesn't seem to try exercise as over is the claques. Seeing how their behaviour escalated you realise why in that example he didn't behave in the same way he had done multiple times with others. They weren't dependent on him for their livelihood. In fact conversely he needed their support firstly to have been elected and then re-elected in turn.

This total lack of empathy is demonstrated throughout but none more so in hours proceeding the attacks and his failure to condemn them or to ensure that at the very minimum the game was postponed.

It's not hard to ascertain how important qualification for the Champions League was for the club in terms of revenues and finance. But consider his narcissism in suspending the players and be then willing to field the B team against Paços de Ferreira because the squad had injured his sense of pride and sensibilities. Then fast forward to the penultimate game where he's willing to offer €500,000 as a bonus but on the condition he has the control and power involved in coming into the locker room to present it.

Then Mr Fragile ego, Mr covert narcissist goes missing on the last game in Marítimo. He's disassociating himself and not adding just a little distance, but nearly 1,000 kilometres. Can't blame me I wasn't there. I'm acutely aware of the look of despair on my own face as I just paused from typing.

Occasionally I still come across those who think he's the second coming and up until writing this series I've never given it much thought. Quick roll of my eyes and a - yeah whatever. Now if I was to find one I think I'll be inclined to dig deeper and find out why. Then again I'm already regretting starting to piece this entire puzzle together from start to finish so maybe I won't.

The relationship between the club and the claques wasn't de Carvalho's fault. As we've learned Juve Leo was set up by two son's of the then president. It's something every president inherited afterwards. Once the genie is out of the bottle it's very hard to get back in. It took Alcochete as an excuse to tighten the reigns but had de Carvalho stayed as club president I'm sure it wouldn't have changed despite what occurred.

Thinking of who we lost from the players side I wasn't overly bothered about losing Patrício but knowing what I know now the suggestions made towards him and his agent that they used the attacks to bribe and coerce their way out of the contract seems quite deplorable. As a keeper he was too short. Stick it in either bottom corner and he couldn't get to it. Some fans in latter years have made him persona non grata in the same way de Carvalho had done to his agent years before. I'm not sure I understand why. He's taken his family to somewhere else where he thinks they'll be safe and done his best to ensure they're provided for. If you had the best part of fifty masked men burst into your work place punching and kicking you and threatening your life maybe you'd feel a little differently.

Gelson was great in a straight line but if that straight line came with someone in front or with a need to cross the ball into the box then you were bollocksed. Ruben Ribeiro - still haven't got a fucking scooby. In the post about the players rescinding their contacts there's a part discussing how the club went after him personally to the tune of €60m. Did someone accidentally add the m? Poor bastard. That entire episode in many respects just feels more malicious and callous than the attacks he witnessed.

William - I finally got what he did one week when he was missing, maybe because of injury or suspension and our midfield fell apart and only then did I think, oh maybe there's something I'm missing. Same with Mateus Nunes at some point later. I wasn't overly sad to see him go either and he never did get his move to West Ham.

Little Danny Podence. What I had seen of him impressed me and certainly when I watched him play in later years he always seemed to catch the eye so that was a shame.

Battaglia staying felt like the precursor to the future version of Palhinha. That no nonsense approach in dominating a midfield feels like it was learned by the youngster in part through the Argentinian. I liked him and whilst Acuña never rescinded his contract he like Patrício seems to have come out of it long term the worst in the eyes of certain sections of the fans. Not me. I fucking love Acuña and he's one of the few ex players I get updates on when he plays.

We all got to see more of Prime Bas Dost and then the actual prime Bruno Fernandes. Winner winner chicken dinner for two.

If my sliding scale ran from non-plussed with Ribeiro on one end, sat ahead of Patrício', Gelson and William, then on the very opposite end of the spectrum would have been the market which read absolutely gutted under which sat the name of Rafael Leão. I'm not being a Johnny Come lately when I say I called it with Leão at the time. I've still tried got a post on my twitter account either from his debut for Sporting or possibly his second or third appearance where I nailed my colours to the mast and stated he had the potential to be a superstar. I'm of an age where not much impresses me. On social media you'll occasionally posts from people who say - I've just started watching X programme and you're thinking ‘you lucky fucker,’ I'd love to be able to watch that anew again with no prior knowledge. That’s how I feel now about Leão. The kid was always box office. From day one I was on the edge of my seat thinking oh hello, now I'm paying attention what are you up to? Mora at Porto has it but not to the same extent. João Felix had the opposite at Benfica. Well for me anyway because he had me hiding behind my eyes thinking make it stop. Anyways, point being even if I had only gotten to watch one full season of Leão, a la Nuno Mendes I'd have treasured it. De Carvalho you fat fuck I still blame you ultimately. But coming around full circle, I really don't portion any of the blame onto the players. I kind of get why some people may think there were some chancers in the group but having tried to walk through it here I'd hope that it you felt the same as me then you wouldn't roundly criticise them either.

There is certainly enough talk that the players wanted de Carvalho gone and truthfully the question should be - should he have resigned on the spot? I think so. If not on the spot certainly within the next couple of days at most. Definitely not have tried to cling onto power. The next question being had he gone would any of them have rescinded their contracts? I'm not asking would any of them still have wanted to leave, merely posing the question that if they did would they have done it through the normal exit route of a transfer. The problem here being a. We'll never know and b. I'll assume players contracts are standardised to a certain degree the world over in that by handing in a transfer request you forfeit any bonuses due. If you're Jorge Jesus on €6m per annum and you've already been paid €17m before bonuses but not including tax you could probably afford to leave money on the table. Diomande wasn't at the club clearly at the time but I'll use him as an example of a player whose wage I do know and his starting salary at Sporting was €3,000 a week. Now €12,000 a month for most of us is a lot of money. But in footballing terms it doesn't feel like a lot. If you potentially had a pot sat at the end of it all for not handing in a transfer request then that's fair enough and if you can take a route out where by potentially becoming a free transfer and the lack of a fee sees you get paid more then you'd reason that you could see why claims were made against certain parties.

If you do feel aggrieved by their actions then I'd say ask yourself how you would feel if your current boss called the quality of your work out in public on social media and in some specific instances said either you or your colleagues performance was shit on a certain day? You'd have had the benefit of handing in your notice and not having to wait for a transfer window to come around.

Maybe someone will explain to me why calling someone's mother a whore is found so offensive in certain cultures? If you said it to me I'd just laugh at you. What did Materazzi say to Zidane? *Something about his sister getting finger banged? Come on man. Sticks and stones break bones, I don't care about insults I'm comfortable enough in myself. All I ask is make them original and not generic and it's not 1982 so move past clowns.

The ultimate and final question, if you were a prosecutor, would you put forward a case that Fernando Mendes had moral authorship of the attacks because Marcus Acuña allegedly called his mother a whore and that's the reason the players took a slap and as fans we lost a fucking Taça de Portugal because of someone's wounded pride? I mean you wouldn't add the last bit of it of course but you know what I mean.

*I would rather have your whore sister. Well, it was close enough.

Join us again for our next part when we'll be looking at the testimony of the attackers and one man who claims to have been there purely by coincidence.