The two supporters of Sp. Braga, the ‘Bracara Legion’ and ‘Red Boys’, issued a joint statement this evening explaining their departure from the Municipal de Braga stands in the 2nd half of Sunday’s game, against Farense. Both targeted the administration led by António Salvador: “We cannot fail to hold those who manage SAD responsible, as their obligation is ultimately to ensure the well-being of all members. Those who manage it are responsible for aggregating, uniting the members so that everyone is pulling for the same side, thus defending the best interests of Sporting Clube de Braga. What we saw after the victory in Leiria and the General Assembly was exactly the opposite”.
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Now, the cheerleaders’ departure came after they displayed a banner with the message: “Don’t squeeze the magazines, squeeze the artists.” The statement states that, after the General Assembly at the beginning of February, the searches of Sports Ground Assistants (ARD) “intensified, becoming invasive, time-consuming and quite uncomfortable” for the members who access the nascent bench and that the ARD convey that they are “superior orders”.
“When the said sentences were opened, a group of ARD’s tried to prevent them from being shown, using pushes and attempts at intimidation, an attitude that clearly violates the functions assigned to surveillance professionals. (…) During the break of the game, one of our members was called to be identified by PSP agents”, it can be read, and the member in question “was informed that he would have to leave the stadium”. And it was in this sense that the two supporters decided to leave the section of the bench where they were.
It should be remembered that, following the Sp. Braga fans’ boycott of the League Cup, António Salvador reacted in this way, after winning the trophy: “Congratulations to those who came to the stadium, congratulations to those who couldn’t be here and to those who boycotted and asked not to come here, to those our club proved that even without them it was possible to win the Cup.”
As a result, the delegation even went through moments of great tension upon arrival in Braga, in the early hours of the morning. Later, banners appeared targeting António Salvador, with messages like this: “Trowel voices don’t reach heaven”. In between, an extraordinary General Assembly where the proposal to change the statutes presented by the General Council was not voted on due to contrary positions demonstrated by many members.
Full statement from the Sp. Braga supporters:
“Yesterday, during the game that took place between Sporting Clube de Braga and Farense, the two Ultras Groups assigned to our club decided to leave the Stadium during the second half of the match, an attitude that we will explain in this statement, so that the entire Braga association and family understand the reasons that led us to take such a drastic decision.
As has been noted by all fans who attend the source, access to this bench has been made difficult by the searches carried out by the ARD’s (Stewarts), which in the games that took place after the Extraordinary General Assembly intensified these same searches, which were became invasive, time-consuming and quite uncomfortable for most members.
This procedure has resulted in the appearance of long queues and delays in accessing the venue, a situation that has caused much displeasure among the fans, who when confronted with excessively zealous security professionals invariably receive the response that “those are orders superiors.”
Naturally, we cannot help but wonder who issues these orders and what their real intentions are, since the company in question is hired and receives orders from the game’s promoter, which in this case is none other than Sporting Clube de Braga itself. . It was in this context that we decided to demonstrate our displeasure by displaying the phrases that read: “DON’T SQUEEZE THE MAGAZINES, SQUEEZE THE ARTISTS”.
When the said sentences were opened, a group of ARD’s tried to prevent them from being displayed, using pushes and attempts at intimidation, an attitude that clearly violates the functions assigned to surveillance professionals, who do not have this responsibility nor the authority to operate in this way. This behavior has never been seen in the company that has been performing these functions at the Municipal Stadium for a number of years, therefore, once again we cannot help but wonder who issued the directives that led these professionals to behave in this way.
During the break in the game, one of our members was called to be identified by the PSP agents, who behaved very calmly and respectfully and made a point of highlighting that they were only following the instructions given to them from above.
Now, there were more than a dozen and a half supporters who held the two stripes, so it is with some surprise that we see that the identification order was given to just one of these elements, curiously someone who has habitually intervened in successive AG’s, raising questions that seem to displease those who command the destinies of our club and its SAD. Maybe it’s just a mere coincidence, but that doesn’t mean we still feel the need to record it.
After being identified, the associate in question was informed that he would have to leave the Stadium. Faced with what happened, together and in a great demonstration of solidarity and cohesion, the ULTRAS RED BOYS BRAGA AND THE ULTRAS BRACARA LEGION 2003 decided to abandon the sector they usually occupy.
It was not a decision taken lightly, leaving at a time when the team needed us so much is frustrating, but we cannot and will not condone attempts to silence and impose a unique and untouchable vision on our club.
We cannot fail to hold those who manage SAD responsible, as it is ultimately their responsibility to ensure the well-being of all members. Whoever manages it is responsible for bringing together, uniting the members so that everyone works on the same side, thus defending the best interests of Sporting Clube de Braga. What we saw after the victory in Leiria and the General Assembly was exactly the opposite, but we made it very clear that our intention is not to destabilize, much less create difficulties for the emblem we love so much.
Our message aims to be one of unity among all members, so that together we can create a bigger and stronger Sporting Clube de Braga.
Some want to divide and rule, we prefer to unite to advance!”