Portuguese football experienced a dark day this Saturday, after the match between Famalicão and Sporting de Portugal had to be suspended because the authorities could not guarantee security in the stadium.
Violence broke out in the vicinity of the stadium, with several fights between fans in which the police had to intervene.
The chaos experienced in Famalicão occurred after many of the Police and National Republican Guard agents summoned to work on the clash did not even show up at the premises as they were “on medical leave.”
With hundreds of fans crowded at the stadium gates, which remained closed an hour before kickoff, several radicals from both teams caused violent incidents in a nearby cafeteria. Stones and chairs flew and the event left six slightly injured, including a Famalicão worker, and several of them transported by ambulance.
Portuguese league statement
The League informs that the match between FC Famalicão and Sporting CP, on the 20th round of the Portuguese League, has been postponed, by agreement of the clubs, to a date yet to be determined, after having received information from the head of the body of Police present at the Famalicão Municipal Stadium that there are no security conditions for it to be held today or tomorrow.
The Portuguese League repudiates the incidents that occurred today outside the Famalicão Municipal Stadium, while the fans of FC Famalicão and Sporting CP were waiting for the doors to open to access the interior of the venue, which was delayed by the fact that the Agents assigned to monitor the match did not appear at the stadium.
The Portuguese League reports that, in the preparation meeting it organizes in the week prior to all its competition matches, the authorities guaranteed all safety conditions for the match. However, the Portuguese League was surprised, in the short term, by the information that the agents assigned to the FC Famalicão-Sporting CP match, as a form of protest, requested sick leave so as not to be present at the scene, putting in danger to public peace and the physical integrity of the thousands of fans waiting to enter the venue, as well as a total lack of respect for all those who, some traveling hundreds of kilometers, came to the venue.
The Portuguese League and the clubs, which spend millions of euros every year to guarantee safety in professional competitions and are fully committed to promoting the return of families to stadiums, do not accept that football, due to its enormous visibility , be instrumentalized to resolve issues with which it has no relation, jeopardizing not only the normal development of professional competitions, but also the preparation of the international participation of clubs in UEFA competitions and, what is more serious, the safety of the fans who intend to attend the games.
The Portuguese League asks the Government, and in particular the Minister of the Interior, to open an urgent investigation to determine responsibilities for what happened, in defense of the fans and their families, and informs that it will also demand, in the appropriate instances , to be compensated for damages caused by irresponsible actions of which it is totally unrelated.
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