“All the club’s governing bodies were incapable of a single act to put an end to that. It’s obvious it was organized. If the management hadn’t authorized that circus, nobody would have done it. The Super Dragões [supporters] were the pawns of those higher up,” accused António Lopes during his testimony in the eighth session of the trial at the Tribunal de São João Novo, in Porto.
A 55-year club member, Lopes testified after having worked at FC Porto during the 1980s and 1990s in hockey and football youth development. He attended the general meeting with his niece, a 22-year-old granddaughter, and three friends, one of whom was off-duty PSP officer Bruno Branco, another witness in the process.
He recounted being one of the first to arrive at the accreditation area, but was then overtaken by many people, and faced insults directed at him and a group of supporters. He saw the defendant Vítor ‘Catão’ “possessed, insulting everyone,” including a reporting team.
He called the police to report that the event “might end badly,” began feeling “fear” and becoming “extremely nervous,” noting that several members were “terrorized and humiliated,” as was his granddaughter, who entered a state of “panic” inside the auditorium and subsequently left the venue without proceeding to the Dragão Arena where the meeting was held.
“I’ve been to war, I’m not easily intimidated, but I was with my granddaughter and niece, so I was somewhat apprehensive. Before accreditation, three fireworks went off, causing general panic. (…) Fernando Madureira was handing out papers and cards, others were distributing wristbands. Anything went,” he recounted.
Nonetheless, the witness noted that Fernando Madureira did not exhibit negative behaviors. He emphasized he did not wish to “condemn” the Super Dragões, who had “done a lot for FC Porto,” but wanted to report what he saw and how he believed the incidents were “staged by management.” He also warned the president of the General Assembly, Lourenço Pinto, about the potential for chaos, but received no positive response.
Additionally, the industrial seal entrepreneur admitted to creating a support page for André Villas-Boas—then a mere potential candidate for club president—in 2015, with Bruno Branco, and joining his lists as a substitute member for the Superior Council.
During the afternoon session, Marta S., an accounting technician, reported being kicked twice by the defendant Hugo Loureiro, whom she identified in the courtroom. She did not know him at the time of the incidents and used a social media video to recognize him before filing a complaint against an unidentified person.
According to her, the assault occurred because she was associated with André Villas-Boas, resulting in threats and insults. She then switched her seating area in the Dragão Arena and criticized the delay in security’s response, expressing feeling “very scared.”
“I’m aware I don’t go unnoticed [at games], and I’ve had situations that proved that. A member of the Super Dragões stared at me for 10 minutes. In this current direction’s first general meeting, I was insulted,” she added.
Today was marked by the testimony of several witnesses, including PSP officers responsible for conducting home searches of several defendants, a nurse who assisted over a dozen people on-site, and a member hit by a water bottle.
The trial is currently facing a delay in hearing dozens of witness testimonies, resulting in a complex rescheduling of proceedings. The next session is scheduled for April 22.
The 12 defendants in Operation Pretoriano, including former Super Dragões leader Fernando Madureira, began responding on March 17 to 31 charges at the Tribunal de São João Novo, Porto, under heavy police presence.
The case involves 19 counts of aggravated coercion and threat, seven counts of physical assault within a sports event, one of public incitement to crime, one of throwing objects or liquid products, and three of attacking freedom of information, centered around an FC Porto general meeting in November 2023.
Among the dozen defendants, Fernando Madureira is the only one in preventive detention, the most severe measure, while the others have been released at different stages.
