The Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD) on Monday threatened to indict football team Flamengo's head coach Joel Santana for "publicly inciting" violence in a match of the Brazilian League.
Team Santos beat Flamengo 3-0 on Sunday. Near the end of the second half, Santos started holding back the game, and the fans screamed "Ole" as the ball was passed from one player to another.
According to a taping released by the local press on Sunday evening, Santana yelled from the bench at his players, encouraging them to hit their adversaries if they kept exchanging passes and impeding the progress of the match, which was practically lost.
STJD attorney Paulo Schmidt said on Monday that he will request the recording, broadcasted on national TV, for anlysis. He promised to indict the coach if the charges are proven true.
Santana argued that he was nervous, and that his words were misinterpreted. He stressed that he did not wish to tell Flamengo players to hit their opponents, and a proof of that was the fact that "nobody beat, no player got the yellow card."
"You can ask any player that has worked with me and they all will say that I have never told them to beat. That happens. I am sorry." "Do they want me to quit my career because of an isolated act?" asked the manager, who played as a defender for team Vasco da Gama in the 1970s.
As a coach, he holds nine state championship titles and a national league title, as well as the trophy in the 2000 Mercosur Cup.
Flamengo currently occupies the 19th position in the Brazilian League, which relies on 20 teams in its "Serie A." The four last ranked squads will play the second division next year, meaning that one of the most popular clubs in the country is threatened to be in the "Serie B" for the first time in its history, although the League is scheduled to end only in Dec.
Source: Xinhua
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