“Sporting Denounces Aggression and Arrests at Lisbon Handball Derby”

Sporting denounced that handball coach Ricardo Costa was attacked by Benfica’s counterpart, Chema Rodriguez, after the derby, on Saturday, for the quarter-finals 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 aggressor was Benfica’s coach, Chema Rodriguez, which makes the situation extremely serious. As are his post-match comments in which he intends to justify his violence, talking about something that, like his acts attest, he only knows vocabulary – values ​​and respect”, reads in the communiqué of the ‘lions’.

With regard to Salvador Salvador, Sporting attests that the left-back was attacked by a ‘red’ fan, “following the disrespect at the end of the game”.

“Sporting strongly condemns the attacks that our players and coaches were the target of, and will take all the necessary steps to hold the aggressors accountable, 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, at Pavilhão n.º 2 of Estádio da Luz, in Lisbon, where Sporting beat Benfica, by 34-30.

The same source explained that a Benfica supporter was detained after the game for attacking Salvador Salvador, while a Sporting supporter was detained for attacking an official.

Earlier, a source from the Authority for the Prevention and Combat of Violence in Sport (APCVD) had already told Lusa that a ‘red’ fan had been detained in the enclosure, for non-compliance with the ban on sports venues.

According to the same source, the detainee is 24 years old, is a Benfica fan and had been enacted a ban on sports venues by the APCVD in September 2022, due to pyrotechnics, having been intercepted by the Public Security Police (PSP) when tried to access the bench of the ‘red’ enclosure.