Story By: Juan Mayes, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport
Manchester United target Bruno Fernandes has said “I feel anxiety when there is a match” more than a year after fans attacked several Sporting Lisbon players during training while saying “I will kill you”.
The statements came during Fernandes’ declaration after the trial into the brutal attacks on several Sporting players in May of 2018 by fans during a training session.
In his declaration, Fernandes said: “I feel anxiety when there is a match. If things go wrong, it can happen again.
“I had never felt this way before. I feared more for the lives of my family than my own, especially that of my wife and daughter.
“I asked my wife to go to Porto to be sure nothing would happen to them.”
When speaking about the incident, the midfielder said: “They were 20 or 25 years old. They went straight to Rui Patricio and William Carvalho.
“Then they went towards Acuna and Battaglia. They would say: ‘We will kill you’, ‘you will see what happens if you do not win on Sunday’ and ‘you do not deserve this shirt’.
“I saw Jorge Jesus with a bloodied mouth and I saw as they put stitches on Bas Dost’s head.”
The attack in question occurred on 15th May 2018 as Sporting players were training when fifty football hooligans entered the team’s facilities.
The thugs attacked several players and staff and also wrecked the changing rooms at the club’s training ground.
Several players and staff were kicked, punched and even received death threats as the thugs assaulted them.
The attack was allegedly motivated by the team’s disappointing year in both the Portuguese League and the Champions League but prosecutors claim former club President Bruno De Carvalho ‘ordered’ the attack.
De Carvalho was charged with terrorism, aggravated threat, possession of firearms and kidnapping among others by the Portuguese Public Ministry in November 2018 after the assault.
The trial is ongoing.
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