Sao Paulo fans fling a KNIFE onto the pitch as out-of-control supporters invade the field and square up to players during an U20s game in shocking scenes in Brazil, before their own stars bravely confront them
- A crazed Sao Paulo supporter threw a knife onto the pitch on Saturday night
- Fans stormed the field and confronted players in disturbing, horrific scenes
- The referee was seen holding the lethal weapon shortly after the pitch invasion
- Numerous other projectiles, including a seat, were thrown on from the stands
- One supporter has been detained by police in Brazil, according to reports
A knife was thrown onto the pitch by a Sao Paulo fan in disturbing and horrific scenes in Brazil on Saturday evening.
Sao Paulo supporters stormed the field during their Under-20 side’s Sao Paulo Junior Football Cup semi-final against Palmeiras at the Arena Barueri.
And as reported by the Sun, the referee was pictured holding the dangerous weapon moments later.
Footage on social media shows the dramatic moment in second-half stoppage time when, with Sao Paulo 1-0 down, fans invade the field to confront Palmeiras players.
Several stars tried to push the first fan away, with Sao Paulo players bravely stepping in to de-escalate the situation.
Crazed Sao Paulo fans threw a knife on the pitch in shocking and disturbing scenes in Brazil
The referee was seen holding the dangerous weapon (pictured) moments after Sao Paulo supporters stormed the field during their side’s match against Palmeiras on Saturday evening
Another supporter then races onto the pitch from a different area of the crowd, with Sao Paulo’s No 9 waving and dragging him away and begging him to stop as missiles, including a stadium seat, rain down on the turf.
Although police originally thought one of the fans who ran onto the pitch brought the knife with them, video evidence suggests the offending object was thrown on instead. Palmeiras left-back Ian found the knife and handed it over to officials.
DRADE (Police Station for Repression of the Crimes of Sports Intolerance) officer Cesar Saad said: ‘In stoppage time, two fans invaded the pitch, one of them went up and physically attacked a Palmeiras athlete, and the second fan was contained by the São Paulo players themselves.
Social media footage shows fans invading the pitch and confronting Palmeiras players
‘At the same moment, some objects were thrown into the field. After a lot of analysis, listening to referees and athletes, we realised along with the other objects, the knife was thrown on the lawn. Initially we thought one of the fans would have invaded to try to attack a Palmeiras player with this knife.
‘It is obvious that it is up to the Civil Police to find out how this knife ended up inside the stadium, who did the search, how it was done, which gate the fan entered. Everything will be investigated by the police. It looks like the knife is inside a lunch box and when it is thrown, it opens and the knife jumps out.
‘This was shown to the Palmeiras athletes, to the Palmeiras football director who saw the images at the police station and everyone could see that the fans who invaded the pitch, who are being punished by the Civil Police, were not in possession of this knife.’
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