A veteran Dutch sports broadcaster has revealed she still carries the distress of an incident at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, where footballer Diego Costa deliberately coughed on her and other journalists following a match at Liverpoolâs Anfield stadium in March 2020.
Helene Hendriks, speaking on the HNM podcast, described the immediate shock and her subsequent positive coronavirus test, framing the event as a reckless act during a global crisis.
The confrontation occurred as Hendriks conducted live post-match interviews for Dutch television after AtlĂ©tico Madridâs dramatic 3-2 victory over Liverpool. As she stood connected by broadcast cables, Diego Costa approached and, according to Hendriks, “walked up and deliberately coughed in the face of everyone standing there”.
Video evidence from the evening confirms Costa theatrically coughing in the direction of reporters in the stadium’s mixed zone, laughing as he continued past them. “He coughed right in my face,” Hendriks stated, recounting that in her shock, she stumbled and caused her camera setup to collapse. “I didn’t know what had happened to me. I thought it was outrageous,” she added.
The context made the act particularly grievous. The match was played in a fully packed stadium despite the Netherlands already being in lockdown, a decision Hendriks noted with tragic hindsight, revealing that 41 people who attended later died from COVID-19.
At the time, the virus had killed over 4,300 people worldwide, and global health authorities were urging extreme caution. Fellow presenter Noa Vahle reacted strongly to Hendriks’ story on the podcast, condemning Costa by saying, “What a jerk! What an asshole!”.
Other journalists present shared the sentiment, with one calling the act “not particularly funny or appropriate”.
Hendriks’ personal ordeal was compounded just two days later when she tested positive for COVID-19, intensifying her anger and fear surrounding the encounter. While a direct link between the cough and her infection cannot be proven, the timing cemented the incident as a profound personal violation.
For Costa, a player long known for his combative and controversial on-field persona, the incident added to a reputation for stirring provocation. Neither Costa nor Atlético Madrid issued a public apology for the behavior at the time, which was widely reported in sports media as a distasteful joke.
For Hendriks and others present, the memory endures not as a prank, but as a frightening moment of disregard for public and personal health at the dawn of an unprecedented global emergency.