Players from Argentine club Arsenal returned home on Thursday after spending part of the night in cells following a bizarre confrontation with Brazilian police at the end of a Libertadores Cup match.
Arsenal, a modest club from the Buenos Aires suburb Sarandi, were in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte for a Libertadores Cup Group 3 match against Atletico Mineiro.
At the end of Wednesday’s match, which Arsenal lost 5-2, various Argentine players confronted military police on the pitch, before throwing seats and other pieces of furniture in the dressing room, according to reports in the Brazilian sporting press.
Seven players were accused of causing the trouble, but the whole team were taken to police cells inside the Estadio Independencia, the Argentine consul in Belo Horizonte said.
“The whole team was there,” said the consul, who insisted that no damage was caused in the dressing room. “The players explained that all they wanted was to speak to the referee, but that their words were misinterpreted and then the reaction by the police was unjustified.”
Arsenal chairman Julio Grondona, son of the Argentine Football Association chairman and FIFA vice president of the same name, was incredulous.
“At one stage, I thought we were in the jungle and they wanted to eat us,” he told Radio 9. “I had to apologize to a guy who was pointing a weapon at me.”
Arsenal were ordered to pay a fine and the team returned to Argentina on the same charter flight that took them to the game, the consul confirmed.
Press reports claimed the fine amounted to about 38,000 reais (US$19,000).
In an interview with Fox Sport, Atletico Mineiro director Eduardo Maluf accused the Arsenal players of assaulting a woman.
“They showed not an ounce of respect and attacked a woman,” Maluf said.
Military police colonel Claudia Romualdo said that she was hit in the chest by one player.
The incident is bad publicity for Brazil ahead of this year’s Confederations Cup and next year’s World Cup, with Belo Horizonte, one of the country’s largest cities, a host venue in both competitions.
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday pulled off a major upset in the DFB-Pokal by defeating defending champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 in their semi-final. The third-division team came from behind after Jonathan Tah gave the visitors a 17th-minute lead. Marius Worl replied three minutes later and Maximilian Groser scored Bielefeld’s second goal just before the break. The home team looked more likely to add to that tally as the Leverkusen players looked jaded. “I’m just proud of this team,” Bielefeld coach Mitch Kniat said as most of the fans the small stadium sang around him. “No one will sleep in the city tonight.” Patrik Schick went
THREES KINGS: The Celtics claimed a piece of league history by setting a new record for the number of threes in a season, ending their game with 1,370 Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun on Friday combined for 65 points as the Houston Rockets halted Oklahoma City’s 11-game winning streak with a statement 125-111 victory. In a potential Western Conference finals preview, the Rockets produced a dominant all-round performance to jolt the top-seeded Thunder’s all-conquering preparations for the post-season. Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting, while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27. Oklahoma City grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but Houston soon knocked the Thunder out of their stride with a physical approach to move into the
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have shown the team do not need star power to win trophies and with the French Ligue 1 title won with six games to spare, the French champions would look to finish the season without losing, manager Luis Enrique said on Saturday. A 1-0 victory over Angers SCO at the Parc des Princes helped PSG win their fourth straight Ligue 1 title and a record-extending 13th overall. PSG can still break Nantes’ 30-year-old record of 32 games unbeaten. Although Nantes lost one game en route to the title, no French club has ever gone an entire league
RSS