The 5th Disciplinary Commission of the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD) was very strict after the incidents in the final of the Copa do Brasil between Atlético-MG and Flamengo, at Arena MRV, in Belo Horizonte, and punished the Minas Gerais club behind closed doors in six games. He also imposed a fine of R$198,000, R$20,000 just for homophobic chants.
Atlético-MG has already played against Botafogo and against Juventude at Independência, in the Brasileirão, without the presence of fans – a 0-0 draw and a 3-2 defeat, respectively. There will be another game without fans and another three with a restricted audience (only women, elderly people and children).
Bombs were thrown on the Arena MRV lawn after the Cariocas opened the scoring in the second game of the Copa do Brasil final – they had already won 3-1 at Maracanã. Athletes were not injured, but photographer Nuremberg Faria ended up hurting his fingers and toes.
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This Wednesday’s trial unanimously decided that the club was responsible for the incidents. Gustavo Caputo, Atlético-MG’s lawyer, still managed to have Atlético-MG judged under article 213 (disorders promoted by fans), but he did not avoid an exemplary punishment.
“Even with all of Atlético’s efforts (in identifying the offending fan), the club needs to be held responsible for the facts that are serious,” announced the case’s rapporteur, auditor Ramon Rocha. “Serious scenes, have notoriety with wide video dissemination and could be watched live throughout Brazil. In article 213 alone there are 12 charges”, added prosecutor Felipe Corrêa.
With so many items, Ramon Rocha sentenced the main penalties: “In paragraph 1 of article 213, with the stoppage of the match for seven minutes, I will apply the penalty of six matches behind closed doors, converting the last three to the possibility of women’s participation , children, the elderly, teenagers up to 16 years of age and disabled people and still considering the detraction of the two matches already completed”, he said. “Finally, in article 243-G, in my opinion, the chants do fall under the discriminatory article and I will suggest a fine of R$20,000 considering the low repercussion”, he explained.
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Auditors Renata Baldez, Raoni Vita, José Luiz Cavalcanti and President Paulo Ceo followed the rapporteur’s vote in full, all reinforcing the seriousness of the facts and agreeing with Ramon Rocha’s understanding.
