The TJ-PE (Pernambuco Court of Justice) overturned the decision of the government of Pernambuco from preventing the presence of fans in the next five matches of Santa Cruz and in the next five of Sport. The ban had been announced by Governor Raquel Lyra (PSDB) in response to acts of violence seen over the weekend in Recife before the match between rival clubs.
The veto to the decision of closed gates was determined by Judge Fernando Cerqueira Norberto dos Santos. He also stipulated that the biometrics and facial recognition system of the fans is implemented until March 1, under a fine of $ 100,000 per match in case of non -compliance.
Thus, if there is no new legal turnaround, Sport may have fans in its game scheduled for Tuesday night (4), against Fortaleza, on Retiro Island, Recife, for the Northeast Cup. Santa Cruz’s next commitment is scheduled for Friday (7), against Jaguar, for the Pernambuco Championship, in the Pernambuco Arena, in São Lourenço da Mata.
The legal dispute is due to the brutal scenes seen last Saturday, in various parts of Recife, before the classic held at the Arruda Stadium. There were fights in multiple local and a case of documented collective sexual violence on video. A man is still hospitalized, stable. Thirteen fans arrested in the act had their arrests converted into preventive last Monday (3).
The situation led Lyra to define that the next matches of Santa Cruz and Sport would be held without public – it was vetoed to the opposing crowd. “You can no longer tolerate that cases like this can happen in the state,” said the governor, arguing that the decision was necessary during the implementation of the facial recognition system.
Clubs and the FPF (Pernambuco Football Federation) protested. The Federation has established that all the classics of the Pernambuco Championship will be played with a single crowd, but considered that the measure announced by the government, “besides being disproportionate, unfairly penalizes thousands of fans.” Sport judicized the issue and obtained a favorable decision.
