Female reporter claims ex-Chelsea & Atletico Madrid star Diego Costa 'deliberately coughed right in my face' during Covid-19 era interview

Costa enjoyed a glittering career that spanned the best part of two decades. In that time, he had several spells at Atletico, as well as playing for Chelsea, Wolves, Botafogo, Celta Vigo, and more. For all of his La Liga, Premier League, and cup triumphs, though, controversy was never far away from the Spain international. During his time in England, he received multiple violent conduct charges from the Football Association, with some of those indiscretions involving stamping and striking opposition players in the head. In fact, French newspaper L'Equipe, via Mundo Deportivo, even named the Brazilian-born player as the 'most hated footballer' in December 2015, based on his provocative and violent behaviour. He himself, however, saw things differently.

During his Chelsea spell (2014-17), Arsenal legend Thierry Henry stuck up for the forward, saying Costa always had a happy demeanour - off the pitch, that was. The ex-Valladolid man admitted he makes mistakes like everyone else but he always has the respect of his team-mates.

He told Sky Sports: "Wherever I have played, the team-mates who know me, the people I've met still like me because they know what kind of person I really am. Sometimes people are given a reputation because the press, the media, talk as if someone has done something bad without knowing everything. Often people say that someone is bad, and whoever listens to them then also think that that person is bad. It would hurt me much more if one of my team-mates were to tell the press or anyone else that I am a bad person. But I am a happy person, I make mistakes, like everyone else."

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Back in March 2020, Hendriks crossed paths with Costa after Atletico dumped Liverpool out of the Champions League at Anfield in what was the last match to take place before football, and the United Kingdom, were plunged into lockdown due to Covid-19. Hendriks was on duty for Dutch TV at a time when the Netherlands had already gone into lockdown. Now, she has claimed that Costa came up to her and her team and coughed in their faces following that last-16 encounter. 

Speaking on the HNM podcast, she said: "Ultimately, of all the people in that stadium, 41 died from Covid-19. First, I had Virgil van Dijk, then Diego Costa. Do you know what Diego Costa did? He walked up and deliberately coughed in everyone’s face. I don’t get angry easily, but I wanted to run after him and say, ‘What are you doing to me?’

"He actually coughed right in my face. But for the connection to the Netherlands, I was attached to a wire and I was following Diego Costa, so the whole camera fell over. I didn’t know what was happening to me, I thought it was absolutely outrageous." 

Hendriks claimed that just two days after this turn of events, she contracted Covid-19. However, she managed to recover from the virus and continue on in her profession. Incidentally, Costa, 37, may be pressured into a response over this incident, but for now, he has yet to respond. The former Braga man last played for Gremio in late 2024, and although he has not announced his retirement, he has been out of the game for more than a year.