Jorge Luis Sampaio Santos was 14 years old when a confrontation between Palmeirenses and Sao Paulo took the lawn of Pacaembu stadium in the west of São Paulo, on August 20, 1995. Teen at that time, he might not even imagine that one day he would have the opportunity to be president of the Alviverde Mancha, Palmeiras’ main organized crowd.
The arrival at the top of the uniform had a bitter taste. As with 30 years ago, the death of a fan did with the police and the justice to squeeze the siege. Santos is arrested, appointed as the ambush architect that killed Cruzeiro José Victor Miranda, 30, member of the Blue Mafia, last October on the Fernão Dias Highway, at the height of Mairiporã (SP).
His arrest and other members of the Mancha, coupled with several episodes of recent fights, reveals that the fans follow the sights of the police, the courts and the CCP (first command of the capital), responsible for giving a call in the leaders so that the fights do not occur. This situation confirmed by a prosecutor and several members of the most varied fans, such as Fiel Gavião (Corinthians), Independent (São Paulo) and Mancha.
Save, as the faction reports are known, would have occurred after a fight between Palmeirenses and Corinthians on Avenida do Estado in February 2023.
Unlike the battle at Pacaembu, broadcast live by the broadcasters that covered the final of the junior football Super Cup between Palmeiras and Sao Paulo, the road fight was recorded by cell phones. In either case the images helped the researchers reach those involved.
The defense of Santos, made by lawyer Jacob Filho, denies that he was at the scene and participated in the confusion. In December, he even asked Santos to be transferred to the Tremembé Penitentiary, known for housing famous prisoners, which was not accepted by the court. The justification was that, being president of a crowd, he could be assaulted by detainees of rival associations.
The fight in Pacaembu left more than 100 injuries and scars to date, especially in the family of São Paulo Marcio Gasparin dos Santos, who was 16. The report tried to talk to his mother, but a close person replied that she would not want to talk about it anymore.
Gasparin, like other São Paulo who could not stand to watch the Palmeirenses celebration of the title won with a goal in overtime, also invaded the lawn. The young man was hit by a bearda Adalberto dos Santos. He remained eight days in a coma at Hospital das Clínicas until he died. Benedito was arrested and sentenced to 12 years for the crime.
At that point, the two fans went through a turbulent moment, with fights starring Edmundo and André Luiz in 1994. Four months before Gasparin’s death, another São Paulo of the same age was murdered by Palmeirenses. Anderson Lins de Madeiros was waiting for a bus on Avenida Guarapiranga, south, to see Palmeiras and São Paulo in Pacaembu.
A bus chartered by Palmeirenses passed by, and his passengers began to provoke the rival fans. The teenager, who was part of the independent, was shot in the head. He was even taken to a hospital where he died. A teenager was arrested days later and confessed to shooting.
Another fight between São Paulo and Palmeirenses had already been responsible for the death of Sergio Vivaldini, 17, from Mancha. He was stabbed in September 1992 in the downs of the Antarctic Viaduct, in Barra Funda, West Zone. A independent fan was sentenced to four years in prison.
The tragic August 20 caused the prosecutor Fernando Capez to cling the spot and independent. Away for a while, both returned with new names. Spot included alviverde. São Paulo was renamed independent tricolor.
“We had a history of 22 deaths in two years caused by fans of the extinction and the prohibition of entry into the stadiums generated a moment of braking in relation to organized fans. They realized that there would be assets for the entity if the leaders did not interrupt the fights or plan,” says Capez, currently retired and lawyer prosecutor.
Another contribution to the reduction in deaths, he said, was an eight years when the fans were unable to enter the stadiums with their belongings. “Then he went to register the fans, organize stadiums and deploy the unique fans to improve the level of safety of fans.”
The unique crowd was put into practice in 2016, when the Secretariat of Public Security was headed by Alexandre de Moraes, now Minister of the Supreme Court (STF).
Without the presence of fans in the stadiums in the pandemic, the groups got a way to fight. On classics days, they walked around the matches or in neighborhoods already known for the presence of rivals.
“It’s a problem linked to violence. Violence is still existing. The young man is getting more violent than at that time,” Capez added.
Responsible for patrolling at the stadiums, Major Arcanjo, of the 2nd Military Police Shock Battalion, explains that the eyes are currently facing national rivalries, which he classifies as a “snowball”. Delegate Cesar Saad, head of the police station that investigates sports intolerance crimes, confirms that the occurrences continue and alert to new triggers.
“The cases of racial intolerance in Copa Libertadores and South American games have been unfortunately becoming increasingly common. In parallel, the integrity of sport is undermined by the manipulation of results. It largely fed by the growth of illegal sports bets,” he says.
André Guerra, president of Spot says that “fans and the public power had to hold hands.” “I don’t think the fans are persecuted, wronged. On the other hand, what has the state improved? What did the state have to avoid violence? Not only in football. Unfortunately, we live in a violent state.”
