President of Sport sees xenophobia in the STJD after punishment

Yuri Romão, president of Sportsays he is not satisfied with the decision of the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD), which punished the club behind closed doors after an attack on the club’s bus Strength. To the UOLhe says that the decision is xenophobic because it is a northeastern club.

“They want to punish Sport without laws and rules, that’s wrong. There is no legal basis for the prosecutor to do that. It’s a xenophobic decision, it’s a matter of CEP because we are a team from the Northeast. We shouldn’t judge in a political way, but with a technical bias,” he said.

“We had the case of Flamengo against Atlético-MG, which was acquitted. Fluminense, when Nilton Santos arrived, had their bus also stoned. So why is only Sport punished?”, he asked, adding:

“It is clear that the issue itself, however abhorrent and revolting it may be, was a public safety issue, not a club issue.”

The STJD alleged Sport’s failure to comply with article 158 of the General Sports Law, which talks about ensuring safety for fans, inside and outside the stadiums. The body determined that Sport must play behind closed doors and without its fans as visitors (except for State matches).

WHAT THE STJD SAYS

To the UOLprosecutor Ronaldo Piacente dismisses xenophobia:

“The president of Sport knows that this does not exist. It is a precautionary measure, the club will have access to broad and contradictory defense. Other clubs have already been punished on the Rio-São Paulo axis with loss of command and closed doors. Accusing and offending the members of the STJD doesn’t seem like a good defense strategy to me. It seems like an appealing defense for Sport. The club already has a history of fan violence.”

In another case, Sport was serving punishment behind closed doors, when it requested a conversion of the sentence to welcome women and children into the stadium. The measure was granted by the STJD and there was a conflict (fight) among the female fans. Just yesterday at the Aflitos stadium in the game against Náutico for the State Championship, there was another fight between the fans.

The report also heard from Rodrigo Guedes, lawyer and legal vice-president of Sport: “Our obligation is to request security. We have placed 340 private security guards, in addition to 572 men from the PM. We do not have police power to monitor criminal actions.”