On 11 August 2012, in the last minutes of the first half of a friendly with Fortuna Düsseldorf, Luisão reportedly pushed referee Christian Fischer to the ground as he was about to send off teammate Javi García for two reckless challenges on Oliver Fink. The referee refused to resume the match and suspended it, proceeding to announce that he would take legal action against Luisão. On 14 September, Luisão was initially suspended for two months for his actions, also being fined €2,550. The ruling of the Portuguese Football Federation was still subject to the approval of FIFA, which was confirmed shortly after, causing the player to miss 11 matches, including the Champions League matches against Celtic and FC Barcelona.