May 30 – Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira is facing a potential suspension after snatching a journalist’s phone out of his hands. The Portuguese coach later apologised for the incident.
Ferreira grabbed the cell phone from the hands of Globo producer Pedro Spinelli, who was filming a discussion between Palmeiras’s director of football Anderson Barros and the fourth referee Ronei Cândido Alves.
Spinelli was filming from the mixed zone of the stadium, a designated area for the press, but following the altercation, Ferreira snatched his phone.
Spinelli caught Barros expressing his grievances to the fourth referee, Ronei Cândido Alves, until Abel Ferreira interrupted and attempted to present the fourth referee with a shirt, which the referee declined.
A journalist for Raio Itatiaia filmed Ferreira taking Spinelli’s mobile phone. Ferreira directed a sharp comment at the radio journalist, saying: “Football is like this because of you.”
In the following press conference, he said: “I would like to address something since everyone here seems to blow things out of proportion. There was an argument, a commotion in the tunnel between our sporting director and one of the assistant referees. And I don’t know if it was reporters, but everything was being filmed. If I overstepped, I apologise.”
“There are certain things that should stay within the realm of football. Do you know what an invasion of privacy is? I felt my privacy was invaded.”
However, Ferreira might still face suspension because of his actions. Article 258 of the Brazilian Code of Sports Justice (CBJD) stipulates that to assume any conduct contrary to discipline or sports ethics can be sanctioned with a penalty of one up to six games of suspension.
In a phone call to Spinelli, Ferreira later apologised, claiming that he didn’t realise Spinelli was a journalist authorised to film in the mixed zone.
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