1.17 The Rise and Fall of Bruno de Carvalho - The Testimony of the aggressors

To recap our last post we focused specifically on the testimony of the former club captain and goalkeeper Rui Patrício. He was one of four players who were specifically targeted by the attackers alongside fellow club captain William Carvalho and the Argentinian pairing of Rodrigo Battaglia and Marcus Acuña who had gotten into a war or words with some of the claques included Juve Leo leader Fernando Mendes at the Funchal Airport in Madeira following the 2-1 defeat to Marítimo on the last day of the season. Included in Patrício's was an explanation of how relationships between Bruno de Carvalho and the players had disintegrated following the clubs presidents posts on his Facebook page and from suspending 19 first team players who'd posted a joint response on all their social media accounts in relation to the accusations levelled at them following their 2-0 defeat on early April to Atlético de Madrid.

So far we've followed the testimony given by many parties for both sides of the case (noting not all). We've included the four players at the centre of the attacks named above alongside that of other players including Bas Dost who came away with the worst injuries and João Palhinha who was then just 19 years of age. These followed on from statements by officers of the GNR, Bruno Jacinto one of the three men accused of moral authorship of the attacks, Jorge Jesus and members of his coaching staff and senior figures at the club. In this post we're going to be looking at the testimony and additional media coverage of the attackers and those leaders present on the day at Alcochete.

So with no further ado, on with the post …

Rúben Marques

Giving evidence at the 32nd session Rúben Marques, one of the defendants being tried for the assaults and other misdemeanours admitted that he was the one who hit Bas Dost on the head with a belt during the invasion.

"I saw everyone heading towards the building, with their belts in their hands, so I went in. We went to the dressing room and that's where I came across Bas Dost at the entrance and I hit him with the belt.”

Marques provided the answer to a question I suspect all Sportinguistas wanted to know, namely why was the club's top goalscorer attacked? Marques simply confirms that he had merely hit "the first person he saw" and stated that he didn't realise whether the Dutch player "fell to the ground or not," explaining to the judge that his action was "of the 'hit and run' type.”

Note - Well at least today I've answered one of the many questions I had. For Bas Dost it was a case of wrong person, wrong place, wrong time. I'm not sure that would have made him feel any more re-assured mind you. Good job the club didn't employ any wobbly old tea ladies.

Tiago Silva 

It's worth noting this is the same Tiago Silva that the clubs former liaison officer Bruno Jacinto spoke to outside the Casinha on the afternoon of the attacks. He, like Fernando Mendes is one of the leaders of the Juve Leo.

Giving evidence at the 32nd session defendant Tiago Silva testified that Nuno Mendes had no prior knowledge of the trip to Alcochete: "Nuno Mendes was unaware that we were going, because it wasn't official. The group wasn't just people from Juve Leo, other people were going too," said Silva, more commonly known as Bocas.

Note - In addition I would also remind you of the the GNR Officers assumption confirmed during testimony to the court that Mendes would have had to have signed off on the attack being the leader of Juve Leo and in turn would have been aware of the plans. Interestingly Silva here has also confirmed that the attack shouldn't be wholly ascribed to the Juve Leo.

Silva, who was 28 years old at the time of the events stated in court that he felt the players did not respect him or all the club members as a fan, and therefore felt he had the right to protest.

"At the time, I lived only for Sporting, I felt I had the right to ask the players what was going on, I only ever saw Sporting," he said, adding that the objective of going "wasn't to hit them, it was to speak in a more aggressive tone, to give them a hard time and encourage them, to ask them to play football for the love of the shirt."

Silva became emotional and cried in court saying that at the time he "only watched Sporting" and was "sad about the bad results." It's noted that Silva was one of the most active members of some of the WhatsApp groups used to plan the attack on the academy.

In one of the messages, Silva allegedly encouraged other members to bring flares. He tried to explain their intend use by claiming they'd be used in conjunction with chants after training had finished by means of a combined encouragement. 

Judge Pires claims Silva "sent inflammatory messages in some of the WhatsApp groups.” He admitted that going to the gym was "an initiative of a group of supporters" and was not "ordered by anyone."

Silva admits he had informed Bruno Jacinto, the liaison officer from the the fans, that a group of supporters were going to the academy. He explained that he entered wearing a hood and sunglasses because "he knew he was going to enter without authorisation and that he was going to have problems."

Note - Make a mental note of this when you get to the testimony of Fernando Mendes who Jacinto had confirmed was stood opposite in relative close proximity when the two had spoken earlier in the day. Here Silva clearly admits to the court that a group would be attending which tallied with what Jacinto told the court and Ricardo Gonçalves in his own testimony about Jacinto in turn. Admittedly a group could be defined as just three people but the court has also had it confirmed that in the WhatsApp group a large contingent of fans stated that they would be making the journey. 

Silva claims to have been "surprised" when he saw everyone running towards the academy, because he "thought they would enter in an orderly fashion," stating that when he got out of the car outside Alcochete he saw "another group running towards the academy."

"I continually went after them to try and dissuade the other group," he stated, explaining that when he arrived at the resort, "there was a great deal of confusion and flares had already been set off."

The defendant states that "the only thing he was going to do was confront Battaglia" and that after being hit by an *iceberg he stated: "This is going to get us into trouble, let's get out of here."

Note - *Google translate has so far stitched me up with glacier and now an iceberg. No mention of any polar bears on the loose. I thought it could be a refrigerator in one of the last posts of testimony. Shall we go with an ice pack?

Silva confirms he was present at the game against Marítimo in turn admitted to having been at Funchal airport, alongside fellow defendant Fernando Mendes, also a defendant, and to talking to the players.

"It caused a great uproar among the fans at the time. Acuña insulted the fans and I was going to approach him, but Battaglia intercepted me and I was insulted by him.”

Silva added at the end of his testimony: "I feel outraged and saddened by the harm I caused to the victims. At the time, I thought it was the fair and correct way to demand explanations. What I did was the opposite; I seriously harmed the victims, the Sporting institution, which still hasn't recovered, the Juve Leo and its leader. I learned that there is life beyond Sporting.”

Pinto da Costa

In a surprising turn up for the books the now late FC Porto club president Pinto da Costa, who in later years the current club president Frederico Varandas would label as a criminal was also one of the defendants heard by the court. OK that's not strictly true. He was however called as a character witness for Bruno de Carvalho. He is quoted as that he didn't understand why he was called to testify in the trial and afterwards admitted to assembled members of the press that "he doesn't even know where Alcochete is.”

Note - The latter part is genuine by the way, he was called as a character witness for de Carvalho. There was only one thing that made me chuckle more during my research, that the testimony of one of the last leaders to be heard, Fernando Mendes.

Tiago Neves

The defendant 29 year old Tiago Neves admitted to the court during his testimony that he went to the Sporting Academy to give the players a push in order to "scare them and make them realise that they should have given more on the field".

"I wanted to go there and give them a sort of 'dressing down,' but it was never my intention to assault them; it was more about demanding explanations. My intention was never to go there and attack players; my intention was to scare them and make them realise that they should have given more on the field, that they should have won.”

Neves admitted to lighting a flare inside the academy, but insisted that he did not enter the team's dressing room: "I lit a flare inside the academy, this flare was passed to me by one of the members, I know I shouldn't have done it, I lit the flare and threw it into an area with nothing there.”

Neves was presented with evidence of some of the messages he sent via WhatsApp inciting violence against the players, namely one that specifically states "Tomorrow, I want to go beat up the players," however Neves claims that these "were more boasting than anything else."

Judge Pires countered Neves' statement, noting that in the aforementioned messages the defendant had "encouraged the group, encouraged them to call more people, discussed the meeting point and advised them not to get out of their cars at the same time so as not to attract attention," adding: "This is very serious, it's not a Carnival joke, you're not brainless."

Neves states he was "a fan, not affiliated with any group, but with many friends in the 'Casuals' group," adding that he stood at the door of the dressing room, where he saw "Bas Dost lying on the ground being helped by someone from Sporting."

"Then I went to the doors of the professional wing and ended up going in. I stayed in the doorway area, maybe I took a few steps inside, there was a lot of smoke and a lot of confusion inside the dressing room. I heard several insults directed at the players." Neves claims that the only players he saw, besides Bas Dost, were William Carvalho and Rafael Leão.

Neves, who was both one of the first to enter and one of the last to leave the gym. He confirms that he covered his face when he got out of the car, "on the way to the gym," where he went "at a running pace." Neves confirms that he considers his actions were reprehensible, adding that "perhaps Sporting was an addiction."

"It's all reprehensible, I don't identify with this, I don't know what I was thinking at the time. I understand that this shocked the country. Perhaps this was a vice I had, Sporting and the fan groups." Neves also admitted to having lied during questioning.

Emanuel Calças

Emanuel Calças giving evidence to the court during the 33rd session stated that in his opinion that he was certain: “that if Mustafá had been present, that would not have happened," admitting that only when he arrived "at the dirt parking lot next to the academy" did he realise that the action did not have the permission of the Juve Leo. It was only when Nuno Mendes didn't show up that he realised there was no connection with Juve Leo, explaining that he had previously seen a message in the WhatsApp group "from someone saying that he [Mendes] was going.” Calças was previously an intern in the Sporting's communications department.

Calças admits to having gone to the academy on a previous occasion with Mendes to speak with the players. Calças who was the 14th defendant to testify in court claimed that the only aggression he was aware of during the invasion was when he heard coach Jorge Jesus say that he had been assaulted. When in the hallway “I saw Jorge Jesus saying that someone had assaulted him.”

Calças explains that some of the defendants organised the WhatsApp group to "pressure the players about what happened in Madeira.”

Calças admits he put on a balaclava "because of the journalists." He iterates that he did not hit anyone, nor did he see anyone hitting anyone, admitting though that he thought Bas Dost "was injured" having witnessed the player "staggering and being supported.”

Alfonso Ferreira

At the time of the attacks Ferreira was just 19 years of age which I’ll assume either made him the youngest or one of the youngest who invaded Alcochete. He was one of the defendants who testified at the 33rd session of the trial.

Ferreira recalled the point at which he realised he was in way over his head: "In the corridor, before entering the locker room, I saw Bas Dost on the shoulders of two people, I panicked and ran away. I just wanted to get out of there, that's not why I went there.” He confirms that he did not remember "seeing blood" on Bas Dost.

He admits to having entered the academy with his head "covered with a balaclava and running," and that he went to Alcochete to "exert verbal pressure to see if the players would react."

"I was going to ask the players for explanations; in Madeira there was a lack of commitment on the part of some players.”

Miguel Ferrão

Defendant Miguel Ferrão, also gave evidence at the 33rd session and  admitted to arriving at the locker room "after passing Bas Dost, who was in the corridor but not injured."

"There were a few players there, but the first one I saw was William Carvalho, and I told him he wasn't worthy of wearing the Sporting jersey. Then Coates spoke to me, he was scared and asked me what was going on. I told him I didn't understand what was happening either."

Ferrão admits that the use of the balaclava he wore "was perhaps intended to create a greater impact on the players." He states he left the dressing room when he heard someone say "This went wrong, let's go."

It should be noted that all the defendants expressed remorse for their behaviour on the day.

Ricardo Neves

Ricardo Neves giving evidence in the 35th session admitted that he assaulted Marcos Acuña: "In the dressing room, I went past them (the players) one by one until I got to Acuña, I remembered the whole situation I had seen in Madeira and I hit him with a slap.”

Ricardo Neves explained that two days earlier Acuña had a heated exchange of words with the fans after the 2-1 defeat at Marítimo. Asked what the players reaction was he replied that he: "had no reaction whatsoever, he seemed stunned" and "even sat down."

The 24 year old also admits to throwing a flare under the car of Nélson Pereira, former Sporting goalkeeper and now member of the coaching staff, which was parked inside the academy.

"I threw a flare to the ground and didn't realise where it went." Only when he was presented at a later date with the images did he realise that it had gone "under Nelson's car." He asserts that his visit to the academy "was intended to stop training in order to confront the players," adding that in his opinion "after the Madeira game, it was necessary to question the players."

"I thought that by doing that they would realise what the club meant to us, and I hoped it would be a motivation for the cup final.”

He asserts that he "had no intention of hitting the players ," admitting that he had mentioned this possibility in WhatsApp group messages "only because he was frustrated."

Eduardo Nicodemes

48 year old defendant Eduardo Nicodemes claims that that the reason for his visit to the academy was simply to "watch the training and try to get tickets." He only ending up joining the group of invaders when he saw "a caravan" of cars arriving.

He claims to have been the last of the group to enter the academy wearing "a vest on his head, because of the journalists." He later explains that he found Jorge Jesus "in a panic."

"One of the first people I saw was Jorge Jesus, who told me: 'You're one of the oldest, help me, something's going on there, there are problems'."

Nicodemes also said he saw former player Manuel Fernandes who allegedly told him to leave.

Despite Nicodemes having been proven to have been in the WhatsApp groups where the attack on the academy was planned, the defendant said he only realised that a trip to Alcochete was being planned on the 15th, "after lunch.”

Fernando Mendes

Before attending the eighth session of the courts, the former leader of the Juve Leo group spoke to journalists upon arriving. Mendes is one of the 44 defendants in the case. 

He explained that on the 15th of May, 2018, his sole objective was "to finish a conversation with Jorge Jesus," as the coach himself had suggested. According to Mendes, the fact that he was at the training centre on the day the attack occurred was simply "a coincidence."

"During my time as leader, I always gave notice [when I was going to the Academy], I would say I was coming and people would take note and confirm if I had authorisation. We didn't need identification or authorisation at the door. I think the current method would be the same. I had already said this at the airport. When that situation arose about speaking with Jorge Jesus, I said, 'Mister, then let's continue the conversation, we'll talk at our place.' The objective was to speak with Jorge Jesus, to finish the conversation. It was total disorganisation, it was spontaneous, I went there to finish the conversation with Jorge Jesus. I didn't know there was a group, someone arranging anything. Only later, when I entered, did I begin to understand what had happened. I didn't see anyone else. I only managed to identify those who entered with me, who are the ones who are identified. It's important to listen to everyone."

Mendes, also chose to comment to reporters on the testimony given on Monday by Ricardo Gonçalves, then head of security at the Academy: "He knows what he might have said. I told the truth, we weren't doing anything wrong, those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear. My conscience is clear.”

In the 35th session of the trial it was finally Mendes’ turn to provide his own evidence and account of what happened on the day. In his given testimony to the court he re-iterated the point previously made to reporters about only being present because he wanted to finish his conversation with Jorge Jesus and called the subsequent attacks "regrettable.” The reason for the conversation with the mister was in respects of a dispute with Argentine player Marcos Acuña, which had occurred at the end of the last game of the season away to Marítimo played on the 13th of May 2018. At the airport in Madeira the pair are said to have traded insults.

"I told coach Jesus that it was unacceptable and that he had to reprimand the player. I said that on Tuesday I would go there to talk to the coach and Jorge Jesus replied 'OK'. My car had broken down and my licence had been confiscated, so I asked a friend, Tiago Silva, if he could give me a ride to the academy," he explained, adding: "I was going there to finish that conversation with coach Jesus."

Note - None of this tallies at all to the evidence provided by the aforementioned Tiago Silva and above by the way.

Fernando Mendes revealed that on the way to Alcochete he ended up joining other supporters, who are also defendants in the case, namely Bruno Monteiro, Nuno Torres, Joaquim Costa and Getúlio Fernandes. Mendes however maintained that he was unaware of any planned invasion and that he was surprised by the commotion found in the vicinity of the academy. "I noticed people running ahead of me. There were already people well ahead, dozens or hundreds of meters. I didn't pay much attention. I thought, 'They'll run and then they'll have to stop to identify themselves at the entrance.' Tiago was nearby, but I was greeting people and lost track of him. I went in with my face uncovered. He who has nothing to hide has nothing to fear," he stressed, later adding: "Nobody sent me, I went there of my own free will."

"At the gate, I looked at the guardhouse, and the guard was no longer there. I thought, 'There was authorisation to enter.' 'Mister' Jesus came towards me and said, 'Fernando, help me.' He had an injury on his face. I said, 'I don't know anything about this, I came here to talk to you.' He was extremely nervous.”

When asked about phone calls made to Bruno de Carvalho, Mendes confirmed for the court that: "This was the first, the only, and the last time it happened." He states that the purpose of the call was to explain what had happened with Acuña.

"The first call was to explain what I had gone to do at Madeira airport. I was also slightly drunk, but that doesn't justify everything. I went there, I was agitated, and I wanted to explain why to the president of my club. In the second phone call, I was already at my hotel, I don't know what I said. With all due respect to Bruno de Carvalho, it was a 'drunken conversation'. I don't even know if I offended him, and if I did, I apologise to him here.”

Well I can't lie, that testimony was even funnier to me than when I read that Bruno de Carvalho had chosen Pinto da Costa to testify as a character witness for him. Still each to their own.

The vast majority of us do stupid things in our life. Some, but not many thankfully, find themselves in situations way over their heads as we've seen in examples above here. I made the point way back in the first post of admitting my own issues and behaviour. I didn't grow up as a saint, far from it. I've done some stupid shit in my time but thankfully nothing as stupid as this. We saw in all but the last instance admission of culpability for their actions. It's not for me as the writer to forgive them their errors for it had no direct impact on me, it's up to the players to find within their hearts to forgive. You'll never forget however. Each of us live our lives with the consequences of others actions. It's an unavoidable part of life. Some of those will be positive and others such as here incredibly negative. Somehow we managed to move past these things in the main. We use an inner strength that many of us didn't know we had within ourselves. For others it will have taken a lot of time but my hope is for those on the receiving end that close on eight years later they've all managed to fully put the matter to bed. I hope in turn Fernando Mendes in turn accepted his role on the day which he so vehemently denied in his testimony. We'll soon find out what the fate of all the defendants in the trial will be. But before we do we have one more witness to hear from. In our next post we'll bring you the testimony of the man at the very centre of this entire series, Mr Bruno de Carvalho. We'll see you all on the other side.