Nowergian side Bodo/Glimt have filed a police report against Roma assistant coach Nuno Santos and dismissed claims that their coach Kjetil Knutsen was the aggressor in a scuffle after Thursday’s Europa Conference League game.
Tensions reached boiling point after FK Bodo/Glimt won the quarterfinal first leg 2-1 against Jose Mourinho’s Roma, resulting in an altercation between Knutsen and Santos, who serves as goalkeepers’ coach for the Italian side.
On Friday, Uefa said it had opened a disciplinary investigation “regarding reported incidents which allegedly occurred” at the end of the game.
Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini insisted that Knutsen attacked Santos, calling it “an insult to the competition”. However, Bodo/Glimt accused Roma of “bombarding media with falsehoods” and instead argued that Knutsen was the one being attacked.
The Norwegian club also stated that it had seen a video of the event that shows the attack and demanded: “that the public gets access to the video that Uefa has”.
According to Knutsen’s account, Santos waited outside the coaching area and harassed Knutsen verbally and made gestures.
“Everything culminated in a physical attack on me in the player tunnel,” Knutsen said.
“He grabbed me by the neck and pushed me into the wall. It is only natural that I then had to defend myself,” he added.
In response, Roma released a statement stating that the club “has always conducted itself in a manner that upholds the values of fair play and sportsmanship”.
“The club has total confidence that Uefa and its various bodies will ultimately establish with clarity and precision where responsibility lies for the events that occurred,” the statement added.
