Mário Santos accuses Martim Costa (Sporting) of assaulting fan | OneFootball

FC Porto’s general director for sports, Mário Santos, said that Sporting handball player Martim Costa allegedly assaulted an FC Porto supporter during the warm-up before the match between the two teams.

“It is tiring to witness this kind of episode and see the alleged assault by Martim Costa on an FC Porto supporter go unnoticed, and he will be properly identified,” said the FC Porto official, following the controversy surrounding the events before the first-round match of the second phase of the national handball championship, played at the Dragão Arena.

Mário Santos added that there is footage of the alleged incident and described the situation as “far too obvious.” “There are images proving that he went up to a supporter and allegedly pushed him during the warm-up phase. He went into the stands and pushed a supporter. We are dealing with sporting events, and there is a legal framework in place to prevent these things from happening,” he said.

The FC Porto official argued that, if there is evidence, “the responsible authorities must open the appropriate proceedings,” stressing that members of the Portuguese Handball Federation were present at the venue.

In addition, Mário Santos dismissed reports that Sporting staff members had needed hospital treatment following the alleged illnesses before the game.

“It is false that anyone was hospitalized. No one left the Dragão Arena, and it is absolutely surreal for this to end with supposed hospital visits that never happened,” he said.

The official also criticized what he sees as “baseless noise” surrounding the case, reiterating the position already taken by the club in the statement released earlier.

“FC Porto received Sporting with full dignity and within the rules for a fair, noble and loyal competition. We do not want to win off the court, nor take part in theatrics,” he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.