The man suspected of having thrown a bomb that hit a photojournalist in the game between Atlético-MG and Flamengo, in the second leg of the Copa do Brasil final, in Belo Horizonte, was arrested.
The information was confirmed this Sunday (17) by the vice-governor of Minas Gerais, Mateus Simões (Novo), who heads the Minas Gerais Executive in the absence of Romeu Zema (Novo), who is traveling.
The identity of the prisoner was not disclosed until the publication of this text.
The photojournalist affected is Nuremberg José Maria, 67, who was discharged from hospital last Friday. He fractured three fingers and three bones in his instep. On social media, he thanked the messages of support after the episode.
“Thank God I’m discharged. Thank you all for your strength, affection and messages of comfort. God bless you all”, said the self-employed professional after being discharged.
Because of the incidents, the STJD (Superior Court of Sports Justice) ordered on Tuesday (12) the closure of Arena MRV, Atlético-MG’s stadium. The club announced that it will appeal the decision, claiming that it did not have the right to defense.
The decision requires Atlético-MG to play its home games in another stadium and behind closed doors. According to the STJD, the club must prove the implementation of security measures for the stadium to be released.
Next Wednesday’s game (20), against Botafogo, will be at Arena Independência, América-MG’s stadium, behind closed doors.
In a statement, Atlético-MG regretted the episode and said it will work to ensure the situation does not happen again. “We will not exempt ourselves from blame, we made a mistake and we will admit it. We will implement new, tougher measures, so that this does not happen again within our home”, stated Bruno Muzzi, CEO of the club.
On Thursday, the club stated that it had identified 21 fans involved in last Sunday’s episode of violence, while the names of nine others were in the “advanced identification process”. The name of the suspects was not released.
In the match summary, referee Raphael Claus points out throwing glasses and objects on the pitch, as well as lasers in the goalkeeper’s eyes. The game was interrupted for seven minutes. After the match ended, a fan invaded the field, and others tried to invade, leading to the intervention of the Military Police.
