Police identify suspects
For thousands last night the only focus was celebrating FC Porto’s historic 1-0 win against Benfica at Estádio de Dragão, making the club national champions for the 30th time in its history.
But festivities were marked by ugly scenes: police in riot gear openly hitting people in order to control them, and fans having disagreements among themselves well into the small hours.
It was in one of these incidents that a 26-year-old man was stabbed in the early hours of this morning.
According to reports, the fan and his female partner both suffered stab wounds in a ‘disagreement’ with suspects that abandoned the scene before police arrived.
Agents were faced with both victims bleeding on the ground when they responded to the emergency call-out. First aid was administered as well as attempts to ‘preserve the scene’.
The couple were transported to hospital but the man’s injuries proved fatal. The woman’s condition is believed to be stable, but no real details have been given.
As for the suspects, police have passed information gathered from witnesses to the PJ (judicial police).
The attack took place “as a result of earlier disagreements and aggressions between the parties involved”, said PSP police in a note.
CNN journalists described the ‘anger’ last night of Benfica fans due to the referee’s decision to annul a goal that would have drawn the club 1-1.
Evening news bulletins centred on the ‘celebratory’ side of Porto’s victory, though there was a lot of footage of riot police pushing fans back and hitting those who appeared to object with batons.
In other incidents, two Benfica fans were arrested, a police vehicle stoned, and one police agent injured.
