Sporting denounced this Sunday that the handball coach Ricardo Costa was attacked by Benfica’s counterpart, Chema Rodríguez, after the derby won by the ‘lions’, on Saturday, for the quarterfinals of the Portuguese Cup.
In a statement, Sporting describes this episode, along with the attack on the captain of the handball team, Salvador Salvador.
“Ricardo Costa’s attacker was the Benfica coach, Chema Rodríguez, which makes the situation extremely serious. Like his comments after the game in which he tries to justify his violence, speaking of something that, as his actions attest, only knows vocabulary-values and respect,” read the statement from the ‘lions’ .
Regarding Salvador Salvador, Sporting attests that the left-back was attacked by a ‘red’ fan, “after the lack of respect at the end of the game.”
“Sporting strongly condemns the attacks that our players and coaches were subjected to, and will take all necessary measures to hold the aggressors to account, reaffirming the need to eradicate any type of violence in national sport”, conclude the ‘lions’ .
A police source had confirmed to the Lusa agency three arrests, in Pavilion no. 2 of the Estádio da Luz, in Lisbon, where Sporting beat Benfica, 34-30.
The same source explained that a Benfica fan was arrested after the match for assaulting Salvador Salvador, while a Sporting fan was arrested for assaulting a referee.
Earlier, a source from the Authority for the Prevention and Combat of Violence in Sports (APCVD) had already told Lusa that a ‘red’ fan had been arrested at the venue, for breaching the ban on sports venues.
According to the same source, the detainee is 24 years old, is a Benfica fan and had been sanctioned with a ban on access to sports venues by the APCVD in September 2022, for fireworks, having been intercepted by the Public Security Police (PSP) when He was trying to access the bench of the ‘red’ venue.
Source: TSF
