2.11 The Story of Alcochete: The Fork in the Road

To recap our last post we ended up hitting a fork in the road. Which all things considered isn't a bad thing because we can do a complete 180° (yes thank you, not for the first time) or we can try go down one of two roads. One which takes us to the casuals, and the other takes a massive shit on this entire process and leads us to the conclusion that actually there were no masterminds at all. NOT A PLANNED ATTACK. I know you can be told off for leading the witnesses in court by the judge, I'll assume you can also be told off by Judge Pires if you were seen to be leading the jury which for all intents and purposes you now all are who are reading this. Does there really have to be a mastermind or masterminds behind it all? I mean not really. I think we've already proven enough that Cândida Vilar spent her time pissing in the wind hoping her shoes didn't get splashed. Would have been quicker if she'd just squatted and pissed on them. I reckon she must have gotten a fair few pairs on that basis. But we've come this far and quite frankly I want to draw some sort of conclusion to the entire affair if only for my own levels of sanity.

When we look at the sentences passed down to the defendants, we know that those with prior convictions were the ones sentenced to prison time. So, who were those people and what can we find out if anything about their past misdemeanours?

And on with the post…

Getúlio Fernandes

Held in Custody in 2018, he was one of the initial detainees, arrested in the Lavradio area. He had prior convictions for drug trafficking and possession of a prohibited weapon. He was involved in the violent kidnapping in May of 2015 of the professional poker player Ivo Custódio in Portugal. Fernandes was a security guard who knew Custódio from casinos and bars and picked up the player in a car. During the drive, Fernandes confronted Custódio under the guise of an argument about the player speaking ill of him. Custódio, fearing for his safety, managed to hide his poker winnings in his socks before being forced to hand over other valuables. He has also been convicted for domestic violence.

Note - The only article I could find was sat behind a paywall which I wasn't going to pay for. You can assume if I was willing to pay for it than neither was anyone else which is why we end up knowing so little about the casuals and those who weren't leaders of the Juve Leo.

Bruno Monteiro

He had 17 previous convictions on his criminal record, and has been convicted of attempted homicide, theft, and bodily harm. Charged with attempted homicide in 2013 after a dispute, he shot a man in the leg, resulting in a sentence of 4 years and 9 months in prison. He was released on parole after serving two-thirds of his sentence. It has also been reported that he is a former bodybuilding champion. He also faced charges for drug trafficking and theft from a business. Nicknamed ‘Grande’ he's a former railroad worker.

Note - He shot a man in the fucking leg. He went to prison for shooting a man in the leg. Attempted homicide…what the actual fuckery? Come on hands up anyone who knew anything about the Alcochete attacks was aware that one of the defendants shot a man in the leg? That is not normal fucking behaviour is it. If only we knew whose car he went in? Yep, pick that one up and put it in your pocket for later. 

Elton Camará (known as "Aleluia")

He already had a criminal record before the attack. He was also prosecuted for drug trafficking and possession of a prohibited weapon. Also given he's apparently got eight kids he's probably also known for permanently carrying another type of weapon. I know I joked about it before but fuck me you know why he cut off his ankle tag don't you? Woi!

Domingos Monteiro

Known to be one of the defendants with prior convictions. According to the investigation, he was one of the individuals who actively participated in the aggression against the players.

Nuno Torres

He already had a criminal record before the attack. He drove the Blue BMW that helped some of those present evade being arrested on the day.

Pavlo Antonchuk

Ukrainian national with a history of violence. Before the attack, he had been convicted for assault, aggravated robbery, bodily harm, possession of a prohibited weapon and drug use. Known to have been one of the more aggressive individuals in the attack on the players.

Note - His nickname of Ukrainian doesn't really feel much like a nickname does it? I hope when Russia invaded he enlisted and was sent to fight because he sounds like a useful man to have if you were genuinely going into battle.

Tiago Neves

He already had a criminal record before the attack. He was convicted of a crime resulting in a fine, as well as an environmental offence and resisting an official, the sentence for which was suspended.

Leandro Almeida

He already had a criminal record before the attack. Identifiable by his appearance: He was identified in court because he had a gold tooth and was violent towards Fredy Montero. After the attack in 2021, he was convicted for drug trafficking and possession of a prohibited weapon. Almeida was convicted in 2016 for the crime of resisting and coercing a public official, a sentence that was replaced by a fine.

Fernando Mendes

Former leader of the Juve Leo. He had significant influence within the group. He was described as one of the leaders and masterminds of the invasion and had given instructions to other defendants.

In their summary, the court emphasised that the distinction between effective and suspended sentences was primarily based on the defendants' criminal records. The nine individuals sentenced to effective prison time had extensive histories, while those with clean records or only minor infractions had their sentences suspended. You wonder what the minor infractions were because another report claims that of the defendants fifteen have police records for assaulting the police, brawls and drug trafficking which presumably included the nine names listed above.

But now we're talking though aren't we? We're not looking at someone who got his mum and his girlfriend to go to court and say he's been a naughty boy and he's really sorry. We've got the Ukrainian Dolph Lundgren and a man who could have been in a Johnny Cash song. Well if Johnny Cash had been Portuguese. ‘I shot a man in the leg in Setúbal…It turned out, it weren't my best call…’

Another name mentioned specifically in reports is that of Guilherme Sousa, who had previously won victories in wrestling championships and was one of the 100 casuals who were arrested at the Dragão stadium in 2013.

At the time the BBC reported that 48 people were injured after violent clashes between supporters before O Clássico between FC Porto and Sporting. About 100 fans were involved in the trouble outside of Porto's Dragão stadium and were taken to a police station before being released. Television footage showed the problems started when the group, mostly dressed in black and not wearing any club colours (sound at all familiar, anyone?), arrived outside the stadium and began goading Porto fans. A police statement said: "In a very cohesive and organised way, a group provoked the violence and forced their entry near the stadium's gate 25.” The two groups began fighting and police, using batons, intervened to diffuse the situation. Some people had to be treated in hospital but there were no reports of serious injuries. Police added that: “The individuals who caused the violence were intercepted inside the stadium, after which they were taken to the police department in order to be identified and to inquire about the circumstances in which they committed those actions.”

Dig down far enough and you’ll continue to find more dirt:

António Pacheco Catarino, the defendant was convicted of the crime of trafficking and sentenced to one year and two months in prison, a sentence that was ultimately suspended for the same period.

Jorge Almeida, received a conviction for the crimes of robbery and aggravated insult.

Pedro Santos has already been convicted of the crimes of assault, driving without a licence, possession of a prohibited weapon, and minor drug trafficking.

Some of the names above we’ve clearly come across before but it’s not hard to suggest that there are a couple of people there who you probably wouldn’t want to meet down a dark alley. On top of that another report states: Seven of the assailants who attacked Sporting's players and coaches at the Alcochete Academy had already been convicted of crimes such as attempted murder, possession of a prohibited weapon, aggravated theft, trafficking, and aggravated insult. They were always released. The sentences were suspended or they were fined.

Plus we know that three of the defendants are also on trial for the attacks at the Estádio da Luz that ended in the tragic killing of Italian Marco Ficini.

It feels rather telling that only nine defendants in total decided to provide testimony to the courts when you read some of the above. The majority of those who went on the day but appear to have been kept well away from any of the headlines weren’t exactly a group of boy scouts were they? So at present it’s not hard to begin to assume that some of those listed above may well have hijacked what the original intentions of the visit to Alcochete had been.

Maybe we should do a quick recap from some previous reports we’d have covered in the first series. CM Jornal reported on May the 18th, 2018: Ricardo Gonçalves claims he alerted the GNR (National Republican Guard) but did not close the gates. He went to meet the group and recognised several members of Juve Leo, who told him to get out of the way and proceeded to assault him. Based on the reconstruction of 36 testimonies, on Tuesday afternoon – which left Jorge Jesus with a black eye after being hit in the face with a belt and punched in the back – the aggressors had a "pre-planned strategy" to "intimidate" and "physically harass" players and coaches. The first confrontation was with Jorge Jesus, who was pushed and hit with flares in the street, causing €3,000 worth of damage to Nelson Pereira's (goalkeeper coach) Porsche. In the locker room, they "blocked the exits" and threw "4 flares". Threats followed, and then more aggression. Outside were several leaders of the fan group, who said they had lost control of the situation and left in a BMW that was allowed to enter the academy.

Note that last line – Outside were several leaders who said they had lost control of the situation. That’s interesting to say the least.

In another report it’s stated that Ricardo Gonçalves admitted to recognising Tiago Silva (Bocas), Pavlo Antonchuk (Ucraniano), João Calisto Marques, and Válter Semedo, whom he identified as "the leaders" of the group.

Note – OK so Ricardo Gonçalves is the head of the security at Alcochete, and is trained in security so presumably recognises a genuine threat when it’s right under his nose.

Getúlio Fernandes

Lets do Getúlio Fernandes a solid. The defendant in the Sporting Academy attack case, says he didn't actually see any of the players. He hitched a ride to the Lidl supermarket in Montijo and from there got into the same car as Tiago Silva (Bocas) and Fernando Mendes when they arrived at the open field.

"Fernando told me there was no problem. I felt that 'Bocas' wasn't normal. I grabbed him when he started running and then he ran after the others.”

"I didn't want to go in. I said that something didn't smell right to me and he convinced me."

Fernandes admits that because of what happened: "I lost my house, I lost a lot of things.”

"That place is huge, we were walking, I heard the siren and said, 'Hey man, I'm not going.' I turned my back and left. 'I'm not up for this.' I went out and waited there near the journalists, but they never came back. In the end, they had already left."

"I sat next to journalists. I didn't see any players, I didn't see Jorge Jesus. I didn't see him.”

Elton Camará

I know we did him above but it'll become apparent in a minute why I've split the two up. I’m not about to do Aleluia a solid in the same way as I have just done with Getúlio Fernandes. I’m just going to inject some light entertainment before this all feels a bit too heavy again. In September of 2019 it's reported in the Portuguese press that having cut off his electronic tag Aleluia was accused of going on the run. He was spotted driving around the Chelas and Marvila area in an Audi A4 and shouted to friends from inside the car that he was “going for dinner.” So then, not on the run… he went for a drive and then for dinner. No idea why people don't trust either the police or journalists. He's also known as Mamadu and Leader of the Marvila branch of the Juve Leo.

Note - I've never concluded why he's called Aleluia but given he's never likely to ever read this I'm going to suggest as an aside that he's a Rizzle Kicks fan and his other nickname is shortened from Mamadu the Hump, Hump. I'm also guessing he takes those earrings out before he fights because that's what I'm going for in self defence if he ever went for me. Yes before you say it I know I’m a child. Let’s remind ourselves though that he leaves with Nuno Torres and Fernando Mendes in the blue BMW. He's one of those who enters unmasked and who never enters the complex and is seen chatting to several members of staff.

The convictions:

- Sentenced to suspended sentences for 5 years and 200 hours of community work

Accessory penalty: prohibition to integrate and participate in activities and movements associated with organised groups of supporters and to attend sports venues during this period

Guilherme Sousa – 4 years and 6 months

Válter Semedo – 4 years and 6 months

Luís Almeida – 4 years and 8 months

Tiago Silva – 4 years and 6 months

Sérgio Costa – 4 years and 6 months

João Calisto Marques – 4 years and 6 months

Jorge Almeida – 4 years and 6 months

Pedro Santos – 4 years and 8 months

João Quaresma Gomes – 4 years and 6 months

Rúben Marques – 4 years and 10 months

Miguel Ferrão – 4 years and 6 months

Ricardo Neves – 4 years and 6 months

Emanuel Calças – 4 years and 6 months

Gustavo Tavares – 4 years and 6 months

Nuno Alves – 4 years and 6 months

Filipe Ferreira - – 4 years and 6 months

João Montez – 4 years and 6 months

António Catarino – 4 years and 8 months

Joaquim Costa – 4 years and 6 months

Filipe Alegria – 4 years and 8 months

Paulo Patarra – 4 years and 6 months

João Aníbal Gonçalves - – 4 years and 10 months

Daniel Lavaredas – 4 years and 6 months

Celso Cordeiro – 4 years and 6 months

Eduardo Nicodémes – 4 years and 6 months

Sérgio Santos – 4 years and 10 months

Hugo Ribeiro – 4 years and 6 months

Accessory penalty, integration in the social skills training program in an association

Afonso Ferreira – 3 years and 10 months

Sentenced to effective imprisonment

Tiago Neves – 4 years and 8 months

Domingos Monteiro – 5 years

Pavlo Antonchuk – 5 years

Bruno Monteiro – 5 years

Élton Camará – 5 years

Fernando Mendes – 5 years

Nuno Torres – 5 years

Leandro Almeida – 5 years

Getúlio Fernandes – 5 years

Crimes proven in relation to the convicted:

Introduction in a place closed to the public

Offense to qualified physical integrity to Bas Dost

16 crimes of offense to qualified physical integrity

11 crimes of aggravated threat

Fined – 320 euros – for entering a place closed to the public

Tiago Rodrigues

Samuel Teixeira

Tomás Fernandes

Guilherme Oliveira

Acquitted

Bruno Jacinto

Nuno Vieira Mendes

Bruno de Carvalho

So truthfully, what do the convictions handed out tell us? Well the obvious answer is that no one person is singled out above any other in terms of culpability on the top rung. The only difference is whether they are given suspended sentences based on a lack of prior convictions, or sent to prison based on past behaviour. Given Vilar was so desperate to pin the last three names as being moral authors and all three were acquitted, doesn’t it feel telling that no one here was singled out as having been a moral author?

Just look at that long list of names that there is no information on. Are they all like Lara and Catarino, just there to pad out the numbers? Getúlio Fernandes got five years for basically being persuaded to go down to the academy and then having the common sense to go, actually bollocks to this and sat it out next to the journalists. Five years because he had prior criminal convictions.

So we've done the roll call. Highlighted what misdemeanours we could find for you all. Made it all a little bit more exciting for you. So just one more piece of testimony to go…

Tiago Silva 

Heard at the 32nd Session of the court. Tiago Silva is to remind ourselves the fan who has it out with Battaglia in Funchal Airport. He's described as the commander of the operation by Cândida Vilar, one of those who set the WhatsApp groups up with Válter Semedo. Described as one of Nuno Mendes' two right hand men. So one final swing of the bat. Can we connect with anything worthwhile?

“Mr. Tiago, you only answer the questions you want to, without any prejudice you can say nothing.”
TS: “Yes, yes.
“So in chronological order, April 7th [2018]… Excuse me, let me just ask one thing first: are you a Sporting member?”
TS: “Yes, I've been a member, I think since 2004…”
“And of Juve Leo?
TS: “From the Leonine Youth, maybe ten or eleven years ago.
“And are you part of the Board?”
TS: “No, I took care of the ticketing side, but I'm not part of the structure. I have a phone, a reservations centre, because of the tickets for all the games.””
“Which shouldn't be a small number... So let's begin, tell us what you were going to say. April 7th, that meeting that took place at Juve Leo Casinha…”
TS: “I was at that meeting, it was a meeting of the Sporting Claques. My only function was ticketing, I had no connection with the groups. It was normal to have these meetings, especially with the groups from the Greater Lisbon area, where they discussed fan and Sporting issues.”
“Was there anything exceptional about that meeting?”
TS: “Yes, the president at the time, Bruno de Carvalho, had just arrived.
“But was it normal for him to attend the meetings?”
TS: “No, that's why I was surprised. It was after dinner, 9:30 or 10 pm… I stayed at the beginning of the meeting. My wife works at Alvaláxia, she was going to pick up my daughter from my mother's house afterwards, so I stayed at the beginning of the meeting. There must have been about 50 people, I think André Geraldes and Bruno Jacinto were there too, besides the then president. Vasco Santos? Security director? I don't remember… There was a mixed opinion there, some were against the Atlético de Madrid Facebook posts. I thought they may or may not be right about those, but it didn't need to be in the public eye, it should have been resolved internally. The vast majority of people had that opinion. Regardless of whether they were right or wrong, it shouldn't be resolved like that, by putting it out there. Here's the thing: at the beginning people were against Madrid's posts and tried to convey that to the president. Then I left, around 10 pm, 10:30 pm more or less. Some were against the players, others against the president.”

“Who made the appointment? It must have been Daniel Samico or the Juve Leo board. Samico also had that connection with the fan groups. I think I only found out on the day of the meeting. What happened afterwards? Afterwards, I know they continued speaking against the president because his justification didn't convince the fans, but that was an opinion shared with friends, it wasn't anyone from Juve Leo who told me,” Bocas then recalled that after that game against Atlético Madrid, the team started winning and had a series of consecutive victories. Then came the trip to Madeira.

“I went to see that game at the stadium. I was with Fernando Mendes. I don’t think Nuno Mendes went to watch the game. After the game some of the players went to thank the fans for their support at the end, other players insulted the fans. Acuña started calling them sons of bitches. It caused a great uproar there. Regardless of whether they won or lost, it was a lack of respect for those who spend money to follow Sporting. It was the frustration of a lost season, in this case. There were some whistles, some boos. When you win, you applaud; when you lose, you whistle.”

“Not very friendly, I imagine.

TS: “Yes, exactly…”

“I went to leave a banner at the hotel that said Juve Leo and went to the airport. The banners from behind the goal, I went to put them away at the hotel. I was only going to Lisbon on Monday, I don't know if before or after lunch. Yes, it was in the morning. I went to the airport with Fernando Mendes. My intention in that case was to talk to the players to try and understand why they were acting that way towards the fans. I arrived at the airport and found myself talking to Battaglia. I went to talk to Acuña, and Battaglia intercepted me and started talking to me. Once again, I was insulted by Battaglia, and a police officer was there. He said we we're nobody, called us sons of bitches, and asked what we wanted.”

“I went with Rui Patrício, William, and Jorge Jesus behind a convenience store to talk. They said things couldn't be resolved there, that having cameras around was bad, and then we left. Fernando came with me later, while we were talking in the convenience store. It was only in the footage that I realised Fernando had also spoken to Nélson. I don't remember what Fernando said afterward; I remember the players saying things couldn't be resolved there, that everyone was heated. Looking back now, I understand that I didn't act so well because I was so hot-heated, I had a lot of frustration from the end of the season, and today I realise it wasn't the best thing.”

"In Madeira it was the poncha that ran stronger... Of course, there is always an excess in these trips, a new city, it is always different. Too many glasses? Yes, a poncha in this case.”

Bocas at this junction was becoming emotional.

“I was devastated by the whole situation, another year without achieving anything. That's how I felt. From the very first game I watched at Alvalade, I immediately felt Sporting's DNA when they lost to Benfica 1-0 with Sabry's goal… But I recognise that it wasn't fair. It coincided with the heat, with the excess, in an incorrect way… I felt I had the right to protest. I gave everything, the 30 games in Portugal, plus those abroad.”

"Then I came to Lisbon the next morning. I realised there was this dissatisfaction among more fans and, as many people were unhappy with the players, it was decided to go to the Academy. The conversation I had in the [WhatsApp] chat was about the goings on in the airport in Madeira. There was a lot of buzz.”

“I came home on the 14th. In Madeira, people were already talking about wanting to go to the Academy. That's why I suggested creating a group to go to the Academy. I wasn't in the “Piranhas” group, I don't know them. Why? It was an easier way to communicate, that's why. The objective was to give the players a ‘squeeze’, ask for explanations and ‘pressure’ them to understand why the objectives had been missed. After that ‘squeeze’, the goal was to encourage them for the Taça de Portugal. With pressure, with words. If there are more people [the players] they look at it differently, if it's onlybone or two, the players turn their backs. At the time I only saw Sporting, I only lived for Sporting and I felt I had the right to ask for explanations, to try to understand what was happening because that's all I could see in front of me.”

“That week I had spoken with Bruno Jacinto and there was already a lot of confusion because there weren’t any tickets for the Final. He said the players should be pressured. But I didn’t go to the Academy because Bruno said that, I just wanted to mention that. The news? There was already talk that Jorge Jesus could be fired.”

Note - Do you think that could be the one line that could ever connect Jacinto there? He said the players should be pressured? You never know with Vilar and tenuous sodding links suggested prior to the trials.

 “At the time, there was no confirmation that we were actually going to the Academy, and I told him not to comment because we didn't know if we were going. Sometimes it's just hearsay; the time comes and then they don't go. I only found out after lunch. I called and told him I was sure we were going to the Academy. I told him that at the Multiesportivo. Because it was OLA, I informed them that we were going to the Academy. In this case, it was an informal visit, not just for the supporters' groups, but for all members. I just went to inform them that a group of fans, some from Juve Leo, others just Sporting members, were going to the Academy because it was a connection with the members.”

“That conversation happened that day, after lunch. I went to lunch with my wife, near Fernando [Mendes]'s house. Fernando wasn't with me during the conversation with Bruno Jacinto. After lunch, I picked up Fernando, dropped my wife off at work, and went to the Multidesportivo. Then I received some messages to pick someone up at Expo, I was already on the 2nd Ring Road. Who? Bruno Monteiro. Lidl Montijo was the meeting point. There were more cars, ten or 12 and we all went to the Academy together. We parked in the park, some cars were left behind. I had heard a buzz and told them not to hit the journalists. There were many calls, more than 3,000 messages because of the tickets for the Cup. I stopped on the National Road, told them not to hit the journalists. Ours was not the last car that stopped. I think the last focus I had seen in the conversation was journalists, that's why I said. We then arrived at the dirt park"

Note - I'm sorry who was in the car with you? Grande? Mr I shot someone in the leg?

"I caught Fernando and went with me. Then we caught Bruno Monteiro. He said don't hit the journalists, let's go, let's go to training.”

Note - You're both telling people not to hit the journalists…seems an odd thing to have to tell anyone.

“When I got out of the car, someone grabbed me, Getúlio, who asked me, ‘Bocas, is this going to cause problems?’ Why me? I don't know. Then I saw an initial group on the right side that was already launching…”

“But were you the one in charge of the operation for him to have asked?”

TS: “He asked because he must have thought I had some prominent role and being the only person he knew there…”

Note - Maybe it was because you'd organised it in the WhatsApp group? Just a thought.

“I went after that group to dissuade them and to try to understand why everything was going like that, why they entered like that. My idea was to stop the training. My surprise was because I didn't expect an entry like that; it should have been orderly. I ran after them to try to understand what was happening, to dissuade them there because in my mind I went there to stop the training and confront the players. I tried to dissuade them from entering like that because I knew that entering there would cause problems, entering without authorisation would cause problems, and that's why I put on the hood and sunglasses. The first time I went to the Academy?  It was already in 2004/05, when Sporting lost the UEFA Cup and the Championship... I also saw Fernando Mendes and Nuno Torres at that stage.”

“They were also surprised and perhaps didn't even notice the group. It was all unplanned, in this case, everything was the opposite. I thought I should run, maybe a friend of mine acts differently. I entered the Academy, went towards the training field, saw that Jorge Jesus was on the field, but there were people who had already gone to the professional wing. At the time, I kept following them to dissuade them. I didn't know all the people, and I ended up entering the building as well.”

"When I turned left, I didn't see the flares, only later in the photos. I enter the glass door, I see Manuel Fernandes. I had never been there. Then I turn left. I came across the player Bas Dost, who had already fallen and someone had already lifted him up. I continue in the corridor and turn left and enter the locker room. There was a lot of confusion, pyrotechnic devices had already been detonated, there was smoke. There were a lot of people, a lot of confusion. I turned left in the locker room, there was a large increase of people, contour and stop on the right side. I came across Battaglia there and I was going to try to understand... I let myself down."

“I see it, I get a mix of feelings, and then I was hit with an ice pack to the head. Then I said, ‘This has already gone to shit, let’s get out of here, this is going to cause us problems.’ I realised it when I entered the locker room and saw devices detonated, everyone talking out loud, I don't know exactly what was said specifically. It was all very fast. In my head I thought I had the right to confront Battaglia but I took the ice pack to my head and realised that everything had already passed the normal parameters. It was hot, there were a lot of people, I got caught up in it and even ended up a bit dazed. In my mind, Bas Dost being the best goalscorer, it didn't make sense... In my mind it made sense with the Argentines, the captains were just for being the team's spokesperson, it's a delicate role.”

Why is Fernando Mendes identified as president on your cell phone?

TS: “Because since the old stadium I’ve heard about him, his icon is always as the interim president of Juve Leo…”

“And how did you arrange things with him?”

TS: “I called him or he called me, on Tuesday. I said, ‘Look Fernando, let’s go to the Academy, the guys are coming to the Academy, let’s go to the Academy.’  As I had already said at the airport that I was going there, we all went.”

Note - So zooming back to part 1 it transpires to that once upon a time Fernando Mendes had actually been top dog. Woof. Just throwing you that bone. Plus there's the link for you that Fernando Mendes knew I'm advance that it wasn't just him going to talk to Jorge Jesus. Feels nice to tick some boxes doesn't it?

“And Nuno Mendes didn't know anything about it?”

TS: “Nuno Mendes didn't know, it wasn't an official visit…

“And being unofficial, wouldn't it cause problems?”

TS: “It wasn't just Juve Leo, other members also wanted to go…

“It was a heterogeneous group, I understand. Were there casuals there?”

TS: “Since they are Sporting members and not Juve Leo members, that can be designated as such…”

“This situation was discussed between us [Musta]. If he had gone, nothing would have happened because he could control things. Since he had been to the Academy a few times, he knew the procedure for arriving, parking the car, and waiting at the door. Given my role with the tickets, I thought I was someone, I thought we should go, I agreed to the situation and I went. Worry about the costs? I didn't worry about the costs because I wasn't the one who suggested going to the Academy. This was done without Nuno Mendes' knowledge… Above Juve Leo there's always Sporting. It was in that context that I went, as a Sporting member, and I went with other people who shared the same sentiment. I was going to arrive there and stop the training session. I told them to bring flares to light at the end to show their support. I know flares are illegal, but I also know they feel that way. Since I thought I could talk to both of them, I wrote this about Nuno Mendes on WhatsApp. [Message in the case file]

Note - So Tiago Silva is the one who says to bring the flares, he admits to concealing it all from Nuno Mendes and for good reason. He thinks he's a someone, that he has the right to go. He also admits to being the one to reference Mustafá in the group which is why the GNR initially connect him as being involved.

“And you didn't talk to Nuno Mendes' wife? I heard she’s a good source of contacts…”

TS: “I don't remember… Nuno Mendes He's a peaceful person who tries to avoid conflicts in the stands and is an active voice because people respect him. I noticed that here in Alcochete too…”

“Losing like that, dying on the beach… It’s part of the game and unfortunately at Sporting it’s the usual, it’s normal… Sporting has had much worse seasons, I’ve seen Sporting lose 3-0 to Videoton… We’ve never had such a good team, with such good players, nor have we been so close to our opponents. We had already won the Taca da Liga. That reaction… A player being a professional… I was a player, I was booed, I was spat on… I spent so many euros, travelled so many kilometers, that was my frustration. My daughter was born and five days later I went to Moscow to see Sporting. I understood what I did for the harm I did to the victims, to Sporting itself. It hit me because no one can think they have the right to ask for justifications, it was necessary to get real, in the world. It's part of the sport. There are more important values. It took being in prison to realise this, that there is life beyond that. I felt ashamed, revolted with myself when I heard the players, my active role and the effects on their families lives. They didn't deserve this situation, it should never have happened."

Note - by now what he was saying was through tears.

“Did I talk to Nuno Mendes about this? I didn't just speak to Cristina, when I was in jail I wrote a letter apologising to Musta. I felt at that moment that I had failed him, he was a trustworthy person, and I felt that I had betrayed his trust. I also feel guilty because of Getúlio. He had already had problems with the justice system and now he is here. He was perhaps the person who had the most trust and the greatest friendship.”

"When did I see the images? I saw them in jail, on the television. The first feeling was that it was a reprehensible and sad thing. I was ashamed, frustrated and angry with myself, ashamed of all the harm I did to the club I like, to the players. The feeling continues, it's always the same. It's a situation that makes anyone sad. It's always a sorrow for the harm I caused to the club I like, to the players, to the victims, to the Juve Leo, to the sport itself.”

Truthfully, what did we learn from a more complete version of his testimony? To summarise he spent a small fortune on following the club and felt vindicated on that basis to confront the players. He admits he thought he was a someone. He used his benefit of knowledge of having gone to the academy before to pre-empt certain issues like covering their identities. He felt guilty for abandoning his new born daughter to travel to Moscow and at the end of it all Sporting had nothing to show for their season. But not that much guilt, that it doesn't stop him from going to Madeira, getting drunk and having his photo plastered over the Portuguese press. 

Like Válter Semedo he doesn't deny organising a trip or as to the reasons for going. At some point it has been hijacked by other elements of the group. Bocas seems to have had a clear plan of how things were going to unfold and that went out the window very quickly. Or did it? Because he still ends up in the dressing room. He's still got that sense of entitlement. He's concealing his identity and going for Battaglia to even the score. I'm presuming that one of the players threw something at him as a way to repel him. He's also in a car with Bruno Monteiro. They're both telling those there not to attack the journalists.

He can claim he was running along trying to dissuade the others ahead but we don't know what was said. He could just as well have been geeing them on. But even if that was true it doesn't mean he's spurring them on to attack anyone. Because the point we always seem to return to is all the people who end up saying - it wasn't supposed to happen like that. Applying Occam's razor again, if you have a large majority saying this then it's not hard to ultimately deduce that it wasn't planned like that. If it's not planned like that then there never could have been moral authors. 

One of two might have wanted to make a name for themselves. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Acuña and Battaglia, who hadn't exactly been shy in Madeira, weren't as equally as forthcoming at points only to quickly factor in that they were seriously out numbered and the PSP weren't yards away to ultimately protect them if it really did escalate into something more serious. 

Let's throw in a suggestion that some players do stand up for themselves. That the reason maybe that Bas Dost got hit was because the young lad shit himself when all 6ft 5” of the Big Dutch forward came into view towering over him like a giraffe from the Serengeti. 

We'll never know what was said in the other cars en route. What separate plans of action they came up with. The vast majority of people we never ever hear from. Because if you're not talking then you cannot incriminate yourself. That feels quite telling to me.

Well the good news is at least we're not going to go back the way we came. We're just left with which road to travel down to the final destination? Because we've never travelled down either before, whichever one we choose we'd probably find they both join back at the same point anyways. Because the truth of this investigation and everything that went with the circus is that it served a higher purpose than what actually occurred.

For the Portuguese press it was a way of selling newspapers and getting clicks online and selling advertising. If you felt you had a grasp on the story eight years ago, I'd ask you the question now of whether you actually did, or did you allow someone to take you by the hand and just lead you nowhere in particular? Because the full stop is when the doors close for the last time on the courts and everyone has to get on with the rest of their lives whatever that new outlook might be. 

Let's face it there were so many contradictions at play for the real truth to ever be publicly known and I don't think the way it was reported that anyone really did care what the actual truth was until some idiot in England eight years later went - hang on, none of this made any sense at all. 

Back to this serving of a higher purpose. It serves the GNR and the PCP to have you look at the case as a warning about what might happen if you get caught up with any type of violence to do with football. In fact in some of the sentences passed down, you just had to have been there to have been guilty by association. Which is basically Articles 26 and 27. Take the case of Fernandes who sits with the journalists. It didn't matter he still got sentenced. He might as well have attacked some of the players because he'd have ended up with the same sentence. They all get a baseline of five years but if they showed some remorse in court and didn't have a record then the judges said we'll knock a few months off and suspend your sentence which should if nothing else act as a deterrent because if you do get caught in the future you know what awaits you. 

I think it only struck me yesterday how long people had been in jail awaiting trial, before effectively being put out on licence with a tag. When you take the examples of Bocas and Mustafá breaking down in court and crying, these are fathers who've missed a huge chunk of their kids' lives. For Bocas his kid is two by the time he's been given testimony, she'd have had pretty much no idea she even had a daddy. Here's a man that appears overnight and then vanishes again. You've really got to feel for Mustafá at the end of it all because so many people say actually he's a stand up guy. He's the one that tries to solve the issues of the casuals in the stands. He's the one that had any of them asked him for permission the answer would have been no. So many people looked up to the man that they ended up going only because someone had falsely dropped his name in the Group chat. No wonder Bocas is writing to him in prison to apologise. You've ruined a man's life and for what? So you could act like an entitled prick and go about at some players for ten minutes and then encourage them to do better in a cup final? Fuck off. 

When someone's social media presence is only about their football club and they have a meltdown everytime they lose then they clearly need to reevaluate their lives. I'd love to know if there's a causal link between racists abuse online of players and gambling. Do we get their extreme reactions come to the surface because someone's lost a fortune and can't take accountability for their own actions and in doing so they show their true ideological thinking in the worst manner? Because whilst Alcochete sits at the extreme end, supporters in the current day can still get their points across in less salient ways and they don't even have to get off their arses to do it. Truthfully I think your opinions of players are more than likely a reflection of your own personality and learned experience. Because if you don't think they're pulling their weight there's a chance you only believe that because you do the same in your own employment. Although in fairness that can also be true of the complete opposite where someone grinds their fingers to the bone for little reward and spends what little money they have on watching players get paid more then them. The key is whatever a player does on the pitch over 90 minutes it's not personal to you. If your team loses it's not personal to you. It just feels that way to you. Whatever job you do, in the main you don't have 50,000 people watching you do it. The pressure must be immense.

It cannot be understated how some of these fans found themselves in a truly privileged position and then abused it because you would not get any access like it at any Premier League side. Not a single one. It simply does not exist. Remember that players have shit going on in their lives just like the rest of us. This season Hjulmands form dropped off a cliff for a few weeks and at the end of it, out popped a baby Hjulmand and everything got back to normal. Yet he got pillared by certain sections of the media and by fans who all then seemed to go - congratulations on your new baby and act like it didn't happen and hope that no one noticed. 

I'm rambling again. Why? Because I am finally starting to feel free from this story. Now I can get on a metaphorical horse and ride back out of town. Real horses scare the shit out of me. 

Look ask yourself one question, of all the names you've read across in two series, why do we know so little about Domingos Monteiro and Pavlo Antonchuk? I can tell you the latter was the last to be released from his prison sentence, does that count for anything? These are the two men who are accused of being the main aggressors towards the players and staff. Doesn't that strike you as odd that no one in the Portuguese press took time to fully concentrate on that aspect? 

Whisper it very quietly - I'm not even sure that the attacks weren't just massively blown out of all proportion. I mean we know the court cases were and certainly the reporting. But think about it, really think about it. Go back to series one, we hear the word slap a lot. The only weapons are the belts. Jeremy Mathieu was quoted as having been serene about the entire affair. He was calm as a fucking Hindu cow by accounts. They've got a grand total of four flares with them. Let's say they had arrived at training on time. They weren't going to run after a group of players on the training pitch were they? Most of them couldn't even make it from the car park in time before others were trying to make it back out. What was the real extent of the injuries suffered? Bas Dost with a laceration to the head and Jorge Jesus with a bloodied nose. I remembered a line from de Carvalho's testimony that never made any sense to me until this week about Varandas’s smile. I was watching some of the very little footage that exists, or at least had been released. You see the players standing around in one photo. Not cowering in a corner but instead all looking very confused. You see someone film what the dressing room looked like afterwards. Hardly a war zone, it has to be said. Then finally whoever is filming goes out in the corridor where you see Doctor Varandas, and what's he got on his face? A bloody great big smile. They say a picture paints a thousand words. 

I'm not saying it wasn't harrowing. We all experience things in different ways. I think the biggest fear they were left with was what could happen if those there hadn't twigged that things were getting out of hand and decided to leg it. We know several of the players have personal relationships with the Claques. You imagine in passing they might have mentioned the casuals and the fact that there's some serious fucking nut jobs in there who could actually pose a threat to you and your family if they followed through on a threat. Once those seeds were planted that's why you get players taking the extra precautions with their families because de Carvalho told them they had asked for Acuña's home address and they already assumed he was behind the visit. So could he have been behind it, is what they're probably left thinking and if so could he have given away their addresses?

We've an ongoing joke at my work that if I talk long enough that I normally come up with the right answer. I'll leave you with that thought. Join us next time for what I promise will be the concluding part because we've no more forks in the road. This will finally all be concluded. 

Let's leave you with one final paragraph from a report on Bocas. Focus on the last three words. 

In one of the messages, Tiago Silva allegedly encouraged others to bring torches, which, he explained, he intended to use "to chant encouragement after training." Tiago Silva, who, according to Judge Sílvia Pires, "sent incendiary messages in WhatsApp groups," admitted that going to the academy was "an initiative of a group of supporters" and was not "ordered by anyone.”