A Brazilian court has suspended Internacional defender Victor Gabriel after he caused a serious injury to Cruzeiro forward Gabriel Pec in an unprecedented ruling that links the end of the suspension to the injured player's return to training, with a maximum suspension period of six months.
اضافة اعلان
During the Brazilian league match between the two teams on July 22, Victor Gabriel was sent off after a reckless challenge that resulted in a fractured left tibia for Pec.
Pec, who joined Cruzeiro this month from MLS side LA Galaxy, was making his debut for the club in a match that ended in a Cruzeiro victory.
Brazil's Superior Court of Sports Justice ruled that the standard punishment for such incidents did not adequately reflect the severity of the injury.
"The offending player's suspension may remain in effect until the injured player is able to return to training, provided that the suspension does not exceed 180 days," the court said, noting that the decision is subject to appeal.
Appearing before the court, Victor Gabriel expressed regret over the incident.
"It was a very unfortunate accident," he said.
"I apologized to him and offered my assistance. I asked for his forgiveness because I never intended to hurt him. All I could do at that moment was pray for him."
The court also questioned the authenticity of evidence submitted by Internacional, including an audio recording purportedly from the match's Video Assistant Referee (VAR) communications, prompting the club's legal team to request that it be excluded because its authenticity could not be verified.
In a statement published on its official website, Internacional said the law firm representing the club had based its defense on an audio recording that had been circulating on social media.
"The law firm and Sport Club Internacional emphasize that they never intended to act in bad faith in any way during these proceedings," the statement said.
"However, an error occurred in collecting and using the material submitted as part of the player's defense. This was immediately acknowledged through an explicit request to remove the audio recording from the case file."
