By CIARAN FOREMAN, SPORTS REPORTER
Published: 07:10 EST, 8 January 2026 | Updated: 07:14 EST, 8 January 2026
Diego Costa once deliberately coughed in a football presenter's face at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been claimed.
Helene Hendriks, 45, said the former Chelsea striker, 37, committed the 'absolutely outrageous' act following Liverpool's Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid on March 11, 2020.
Costa started that match up front for Diego Simeone's side alongside Joao Felix, before they were both subbed for eventual match-winners Marcos Llorente and Alvaro Morata.
In an extremely dramatic affair, Llorente scored twice and Morata scored once in extra-time to send the then-reigning champions crashing out of the competition in the Round of 16.
But the game would become more infamous for its implications off the park, with it being the final match to be played at full capacity in Britain before the nation was plunged into a full lockdown.
Despite rising infection numbers, Hendriks suggested Costa was not taking it seriously and intentionally coughed in her face. She claims she then tested positive for the virus two days later.
Helene Hendriks claims Diego Costa coughed in her face at the start of the COVID pandemic
Costa is said to have committed the 'absolutely outrageous' act at Anfield on March 11, 2020
'First I spoke to Virgil van Dijk, then Diego Costa arrived. Do you know what Costa did? He walked up and deliberately coughed in the faces of everyone who was there,' the Dutch presenter told HNM podcast.
'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.
'To connect to [Dutch TV], I was attached to a wire and I was following him, so the whole camera fell over. I didn't know what was happening; I thought it was absolutely outrageous. And two days later, I tested positive for the coronavirus.'
Daily Mail Sport reported in November 2021 - when an MPs' report found that 37 deaths occurred at local hospitals after the game - that Costa coughed on journalists at Anfield.
He did it as he walked through the mixed zone - a place reserved for players to speak to the media after a match - and ignored all requests for an interview before theatrically coughing in the direction of the where reporters were standing.
The whole scene was caught on camera and Costa even burst out into laughter as he continued on his way out of the stadium.
It has been argued that the match should never have been played, given that LaLiga had decided to play their domestic games behind closed doors on the previous evening.
Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that by the night of the match there had already been 55 deaths and more than 22,000 confirmed cases of the virus across Spain. Around 3,000 Atletico Madrid supporters travelled to Liverpool for the game.
Diego Costa pretends to cough at reporters stood feet away from him after playing at Anfield
Around 3,000 Atletico supporters travelled for the game which was later linked to 37 deaths
It remains unclear whether the 37 event-linked deaths - identified in a joint report by the House of Commons Health and Science select committees - were directly caused by attendance at the match or by travel and social gatherings, including at pubs.
The report said: 'That approach meant events that may have spread the virus proceeded - such as the football match between Liverpool FC and Atletico Madrid on 11 March... and the Cheltenham Festival.
'Subsequent analysis suggested that there were an additional 37 and 41 deaths respectively at local hospitals after these events.'
Costa would spend another half-season at Atletico before moving to Atletico Mineiro in Brazil. He then made a sensational return to the Premier League, signing with Wolves for the 2022-23 campaign.
However, his move to Molineux proved to be a flop, with the legendary forward scoring just once in 25 games and he returned to Brazil with Botafogo and later Gremio.
He has not featured professionally since 2024 but has not formally retired.