Fernando Augusto da Silva Monteiro Madureira, also known by the nickname “Macaco”, returned this morning to filling the media space, as a result of the arrest of which he was subjected, together with his wife, Sandra Madureira, and a dozen other elements linked to the Super Dragões, a group of which Madureira is the visible face.
But who, after all, is FC Porto’s most famous cheerleader? Who is this man from Ribeira, where he was born on May 13, 1975 – 48 years ago, therefore – and who went from being a modest striker for smaller clubs to the top of the hierarchy of one of the country’s hottest cheerleaders?
Regarding the origins, PÚBLICO left some clues in 2007, in a text that reveals a lesser-known facet of the “ruço”: that of a good cousin, husband, son-in-law and head of the family. The “nickname” was given to him, in accordance with this incursion into Madureira’s inner circle, due to the fact that he was constantly jumping around.
Thus, from a young promise of Ribeirense to a “veteran” of Canelas or Castelo da Maia, there is a whole history that is umbilically linked to the Porto fans, which, in the meantime, “sublimated”… between accusations, processes, suspensions, convictions and acquittals, in addition to the ramifications for other controversial police areas related to nightlife in the city.
Businesses related to football or restaurants, the outward signs of wealth and the explanations presented over the last three decades leave Fernando Madureira even more exposed to public scrutiny, even though 17 years ago he reaffirmed that he had nothing to hide or fear .
“International fame
Ten years after this testimony, in which the woman herself, Sandra, explained the fixation of media and the suspicion of the authorities towards the leader of the Super Dragões based on the fan’s history in the “they broke everything” phase, the nickname “Monkey” continued to be associated with the episodes that terrorized owners and customers of service stations and stores during the cheerleader, at home or abroad.
Incidents that he did not shy away from “documenting” in a book published in December 2005 with the title Fernando Madureira – The Leaderin which he reports on several episodes of violence, coercion and harassment when traveling to accompany FC Porto, both nationally and abroad.
In 2018, Madureira was sentenced by the Oliveira do Bairro Court to one year and four months in prison, replaced by 480 hours of work in favor of the community, for the crime of attacking road safety, for immobilizing the cheerleader’s bus in 2015. on the highway to exchange insults with Benfica fans who were traveling in the opposite direction.
A fame that crossed borders, to the point that the New York Times having sent a reporter to Canelas to tell the story that Rory Smith titled “The scary football team that no one wants to face”. A story about Canelas 2010, a club captained by Madureira that included several members of the Super Dragões fan base and that became famous for the worst reasons.
Also, despite the acquittal, the Chapacoense episode – “I wish the Chapecoense plane was from Benfica” –, with the chant, at Dragão Caixa, motivated by the crash of the Brazilian club’s plane that caused the death of 71 people, projected the Porto fans in terms of international indignation.
Master’s degree investigated
Madureira’s story can therefore be confused with a puzzle made up of fragments of violence and intimidation, such as those added in the recent general assembly of FC Porto, suspended after insults and attacks on members of the club itself.
But also with completely unexpected episodes, such as the master’s degree in Sports Management completed with 17 points at the Instituto Universitário da Maia (Ismai) and subsequently investigated at the request of the rector, who sent Fernando Madureira’s dissertation for investigation by the General Inspectorate of Education and Science. Even to eliminate any doubts about the assessment procedures.
Dissertation in which the author quotes José Maria Pedroto (“At FC Porto, problems do not arise because they never exist”) and aims, “through the analysis of various marketing techniques”, to find “the best ways to achieve the objective of the project – finding a strategy capable of bringing more fans to the stadium and, consequently, finding ways to boost and create more action in the South Stand of Estádio do Dragão”.
In this reflection, Madureira reserves a place for the ticketing strategy, an area that would count on the dedication of the woman, a former Correios employee who completed her master’s degree in Forensic Clinical Psychology at that institute in Maia.
Now, in the run-up to the club’s elections, after the active participation of the Super Dragões, Fernando Madureira faces a new “battle” in which he will have to explain to the courts the origin of the weapon, drugs and thousands of euros found by the police in this Wednesday’s searches. -fair.