Jose Magalhaes took his two young boys and his elderly father to watch a big Portuguese football game thinking it would be a treat for all. Instead, he and his family are at the centre of a national scandal about police brutality.Live video of a policeman beating Magalhaes with a truncheon in front of his sons outside the stadium on Sunday, and also punching his 66-year-old father, has sparked outrage in Portugal and led to an official investigation of allegations of abuse of power by the police.Magalhaes told reporters that police had allowed him and his sons to leave the stadium before others because his children, aged nine and 13, were being crushed as fans inside celebrated a result that gave Benfica, the club his family supports, the Portuguese championship title.''It was supposed to be a day of celebration,'' Magalhaes said at his lawyer's office in his hometown of Matosinhos, north of the capital, Lisbon.Police declined to comment but the national headquarters said it had opened an investigation.The government department that oversees the police is also analysing police conduct.Dramatic video footage, played widely on Portuguese television and on social media, showed the Magalhaes family next to a low wall outside the stadium, where the youngest child sat and drank from a bottle of water.There were few other people in the vicinity because the police were holding rival fans inside the stadium at Guimaraes to avoid clashes in surrounding streets.An officer questioned Magalhaes, then punched his father, before using a truncheon to beat Magalhaes on the ground while his nine-year-old screamed: "Dad! Dad!"Magalhaes, a slim, 42-year-old businessman in the property sector, said: "The policeman came over and asked us why we had brought children to the stadium if we knew there might be trouble there. I told him, gesticulating, that he should be more concerned about the problems inside the stadium."The next thing I know he's on top of me."Another policeman in riot gear with a shield kept the nine-year-old away and tried to pick him up as he cried.Magalhaes said his first worry was for his youngest son."The child didn't understand what was going on. I wanted to get over to him and comfort him, and calm him down," he said.Instead, Magalhaes was handcuffed and taken away.Magalhaes said the policeman alleged at an initial court hearing on Monday that Magalhaes had spat at him, a claim Magalhaes denied.Magalhaes said the police had earlier in the day been kind to him and his family by allowing them to leave the stadium early.The incident has brought a flurry of investigations and charges.Magalhaes's lawyer, Sonia Carneiro, said the police have brought a complaint of threatening behaviour and obstruction against Magalhaes.After an initial hearing on Monday the public prosecutor's office is investigating whether there is enough evidence to charge Magalhaes. There is no deadline for a decision.Magalhaes said he and his father intend to file a complaint against the police, though he acknowledges that the officer who hit him does not represent the entire police force.He still has to explain what happened to his children.He and his wife had taught them that the police are their friends, he said, and they "couldn't understand why the police acted like they did".As he nurses his bruises and stiffness, Magalhaes hopes an invitation from Benfica to watch next weekend's final game of the season will help banish the bad memory."The physical part will heal faster than the psychological part," he said...