PSP does not expect retaliation from lions in Jamor
A week after the clashes between PSP members and Sporting fans during the celebrations for the club's second championship title, which left a man blind after being hit by a rubber bullet, another high-tension match took place — this time against Benfica, for the Portuguese Cup final , at the Jamor Stadium. The PSP's position regarding the incidents that left several fans injured is that the action was solely intended to ensure the safety of the celebrations — and it assures Observador that it does not expect retaliation. However, the last week has made it clear, at various times, that Sporting fans are, at the very least, resentful of the authorities' actions.
“The PSP is expecting Sporting fans to behave correctly. The PSP expects Sporting and Benfica fans to avoid confrontations and conflicts,” a source from this security force told Observador.
Officially, in the statements it has released regarding the Cup final match this Sunday, the PSP praises the “cooperation” of Sporting fans last Saturday — with celebrations all over the country and, above all, in Lisbon, more concentrated on the Alvalade-Marquês de Pombal axis. But it also made a note of the “massive use of pyrotechnics”, which this security force claims was the cause of the rubber bullets that blinded Bernardo Topa in one eye , in Praça do Saldanha.
“There is a massive use of pyrotechnics. While [they are launched] vertically, we let the party go on. Then, at a certain point, I don’t know if it was due to negligence, we notice that the fire that was going vertically starts to be directed horizontally, towards other people and the police officers”, a police source described to Observador regarding the events that led to the intervention near Saldanha, last Saturday. The PSP stresses that the dangerous use of pyrotechnic devices may have happened “due to negligence” — and not intentionally against its members —, but, even so, “at least five” of the dozens that were launched hit officers.
The five firecrackers filmed in the video, which Expresso now reveals, were thrown horizontally, close to the heads of dozens of people. The police action that followed led to the hospitalization of some fans, and one of them was left blind in one eye.
Learn more: https://t.co/vCFFh9eprJ pic.twitter.com/7PMVzWBG8q
— Expresso (@expresso) May 22, 2025
This “massive use” created yet another difficulty: the intense smoke reduces the visibility of the officers and makes it more difficult to react accurately against the fans who set off pyrotechnic devices, which was not the case for Bernardo Topa, according to the testimony he gave to CNN Portugal . “In the middle of the smoke, an intervention team came out with shotguns in their hands, firing in all directions. They were facing [the police] for sure. I’m six feet tall, I don’t know how they hit me in the eye, but it was a direct hit,” said Topa, claiming that he had no pyrotechnic devices with him.
Another video, also shared on social media, shows a PSP agent, amid the smoke, firing rubber bullets a few meters from the fans, while one of them shouts: “What is the need?”
This is the moment when @PSP_Portugal claims that they were on a police charge to detain fans, but as you can see in the images there is no violence from fans, there are police distributing beatings and shooting rubber bullets indiscriminately!
JUSTICE FOR BERNARDO ???? https://t.co/mTsax5tW8R pic.twitter.com/oPW2f9GAM8
— ̷A̷n̷o̷n̷y̷m̷o̷u̷s̷ ???? (@AlexMilhas1906) May 21, 2025
Bruno Pereira, president of the National Union of Police Officers, argues that the PSP “is not, at any time, exempt from responsibility”. However, he warns that this security force “faces unique contexts”.
The union leader also points the finger at the use of pyrotechnics and denounces the “normalization” and lack of censorship of acts of violence in sports: “We have been talking about violence in sports for decades. We continue to have a sports world that continues to encourage and generate scenarios like these. Don’t come and say that it is normal for thousands and thousands of fans to be burning and setting off pyrotechnics as if it were the 4th of July in the USA and using these devices against people and buildings, as if it were normal and reasonable.”
The president of SNOP — who, like the PSP, regrets the injuries caused to the Sporting fan — understands that the criticisms made of police violence do not correspond to the feeling of trust that the Portuguese have towards the security forces.
This Friday, Lusa released data from the General Inspectorate of Internal Administration (IGAI) that show an increase in the number of complaints against the actions of the security forces . Last year, the body that oversees police activity received 1,511 complaints, the highest number in a decade.
On Tuesday, the PSP announced the opening of an investigation into the “police officers involved in restoring public order” who injured the Sporting fan. Sporting also reacted to these events and admitted that “it is taking all possible and necessary steps to investigate the incident and adopt any appropriate measures” — without specifying exactly what “steps” are underway and what “measures” it intends to adopt.
Bernardo Topa, a TAP flight attendant who worked for Sporting TV, was visited in hospital by Frederico Varandas and admitted to CNN Portugal that he was not contacted by the PSP. A police source contradicted this information to Observador and revealed that there had already been contact between the two parties, recalling that the officers themselves helped the 28-year-old fan at the scene.
On the part of Sporting fans, the recent visit of the green and white delegation to Lisbon City Hall and the subsequent reaction when the local leader, Carlos Moedas, began his speech showed that there are recent episodes that have not been forgotten.
On the one hand, the authorities' decision to close all restaurants and similar establishments around the Estádio José Alvalade on the day of the decisive match between Sporting and V. Guimarães was seen almost as an affront, given what was at stake, the lack of parallelism with the actions taken (or in this case, not taken) a week earlier in the derby held at Luz and the proximity of the decisions to the day of the last round of the Championship. The club's leaders made efforts to minimise the impact of the restrictions with the Council - including conversations between Frederico Varandas and Carlos Moedas - and the authorities, something they managed to do by extending the period in which the establishments could be open, but in the end, this first image of unprecedented restrictions on what should have been a party was left.
Carlos Moedas booed by Sporting fans! ????
???? pic.twitter.com/skqT1anAQ4
— Claudia Teixeira (@claudiaaict) May 19, 2025
On the other hand, the events of Saturday night, particularly the incidents in the Saldanha area, have also remained in the memory of many. Throughout the week, several reports were spread among supporter groups (and in many cases reached the club's management) about everything that happened before the bus passed by the Marquês de Pombal. The case of Bernardo Topa, a supporter of the Lions who lost an eye due to a rubber bullet fired by the PSP in the midst of the most tense moment, was just the most serious among many others recorded that night - some not known to the public - in a place where there were thousands and thousands of people, including several children.
“I would like to thank President Carlos Moedas because he spent more than 24 hours, together with the president of Sporting, trying to find the technical and political reasons so that there would be no restrictions on the party, as happened. I am a soldier and I greatly respect all orders from all security forces, but do not treat football fans like criminals. Do not harm something that is part of our culture. Football is part of our culture, do not harm hundreds of thousands of fans who are passionate only about their club, just because a minority does not know how to behave”, said Frederico Varandas, president of Sporting, in the speech given at the reception of the Lions in the City Hall.
observador
