07.04.2018 21:30 h

Peace descends on warring Sporting Lisbon

The bitter war of words between Sporting Lisbon players and the club's president who had threatened to suspend almost all of the first team "spoilt brats" appears to have blown over.

Bruno de Carvalho launched a rant on social media following Sporting's 2-0 Europa League quarter-final first leg loss to Atletico Madrid on Thursday, accusing the club's most experienced players of making "stupid mistakes".

Some 19 first-team players hit back with their own social media post expressing their "unhappiness" and demanding "respect" from De Carvalho.

That only provoked the 46-year-old Sporting supremo to fire off an even more vitriolic outburst on Friday night, in which he suspended all 19 rebels ahead of Sunday's league game at Pacos de Ferreira.

But Saturday coach Jorge Jesus appeared briefly in front of the media to announce: "We had a meeting between the president and the players.

"The important thing to come out of it was the president gave me the freedom to call up whoever I wanted, I will summon all the players who are physically fit and available."

On Thursday De Carvalho posted on Facebook: "Spoilt brats who don't respect anything or anyone, at Sporting we don't live in a banana republic!".

He added that all 19 -- a group that included Portugal's 2016 European champions Rui Patricio and William Carvalho -- were "immediately suspended" and would "face disciplinary sanctions".

The rift made front page news in Portugal's newspapers.

Publico described it as a "revolt at the Alvalade" in reference to the name of Sporting's stadium in Lisbon, while A Bola called it "All-out War".

The latter also speculated that the club's coach Jesus could have resigned if he'd been deprived of his best first team players.

Sporting sit third in the League, six points behind city rivals Benfica and look increasingly unlikely to end their 16-year wait for a title triumph.

De Carvalho, a controversial character, is in his second stint as chairman.

In the 1980s he was a member of the club's hardline ultra fan groups Juventude Leonina and Torcida Verde, and has been nicknamed the "supporter-president".

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