The Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAD) upheld the sentence 35 months suspension for Miguel Afonso, former coach of the Famalicão women’s teamby the Disciplinary Board (CD) of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), for sexual harassment and discrimination.
Miguel Afonso was penalized with a suspension of 35 months and a fine of 5,100 euros by the CD of the FPF, for “committing five very serious disciplinary offenses”, resulting from “discriminatory behavior on the basis of gender and/or sexual orientation”, on November 3, 2022.
The 41-year-old technician contested the sentence before the TAD, which on Monday, according to the verdict accessed on Tuesday, upheld the sentence by Lusa, whose actions date back to the beginning of the 2020/21 season, when this trained the women’s formation of Rio Ave.
“In these terms (…) it is decided to reject the appeal lodged by the applicant [Miguel Afonso] and consequently: Rejection of the claim proposed by the plaintiff, deeming the nullity and voidability invoked by him unproved and, consequently, fully upholding the contested decision in the part condemning the plaintiff, this statement in its precise terms”, reads in that document.
Miguel Afonso was the target of allegations by Rio Ave players in 2020/21, reported Público newspaper, prompting others about the former coach of Bonitos de Amorim (2019/20) and Ovarense (2021/22), and, later Famalicão, who suspended him.
On February 1, the TAD also confirmed the sentence imposed by the FPF CD on Famalicão manager Samuel Costa, also for sexual harassment and discrimination against two football players, suspended for a year and a half, for three very serious offenses and a fine of 3,060 euros.
Before arriving at Famalicão at the beginning of last season, 37-year-old Samuel Costa worked at Vitória de Guimarães (2020/21) and Valadares Gaia (2021/22).
Source: DN
