The Central Investigation and Criminal Justice Department (DCIAP) archived the ‘vouchers’ case, in which Benfica SAD was one of the accused, eight years after Bruno de Carvalho, Sporting’s then president, exposed the case.
“The constitutional principle of legality, also enshrined in Article 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CPP), states that there is no crime or punishment without law. Considering the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law, it is necessary to conclude that it is not possible to impute to someone the crime of offering or receiving an unlawful advantage in sports, therefore the charge for this crime cannot be be diverted and the case can be closed.”refers to the DCIAP decision, to which the Lusa agency had access.
The ‘vouchers’ case arose from statements made by the then chairman of Sporting, Bruno de Carvalho, on October 5, 2015 in a TVI television program about offers that Benfica had made to members of the referee teams in all matches, which could amount to a global value per season of approximately 250,000 euros.
“Therefore, in the present case it was not possible to gather sufficient evidence regarding the practice of crimes of passive and active corruption, and moreover, there are no other useful pieces of evidence relevant to the discovery of the truth that would lead to a another matter. result”emphasizes DCIAP.
The order recalls that the invitations did not mention the value of the ‘kits’. Therefore, the DCIAP states that “it was impossible for the referees, delegates and observers to know from the beginning the value of the meal and therefore, its benefit”.
‘The evidence gathered does not enable us to maintain, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the SLB, by granting such an advantage [Benfica] has made it aware of the possibility that a referee, delegate or observer has the ability to perform an act or omission, let alone intended to change or distort the sporting result.”notices.
The DCIAP says that “many invitations were not used, apparently only in a 10% universe”, and that “all respondents without exception regarded the offers as polite and symbolic, but without the possibility of influencing their functions”.
The case had Benfica SAD as suspects, in addition to Rui Costa and Luís Filipe Vieira, current and former presidents respectively, then directors Domingos Soares de Oliveira and José Eduardo Moniz and former legal advisor Paulo Gonçalves.
In June 2018, Benfica announced that the UEFA Appeal Committee had rejected the appeal submitted by Sporting, gradually confirming the decisions previously taken, within the scope of sports justice, by the Instructors Committee (CI) of the Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP) . ), the Disciplinary Board (CD) of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) and the Court of Arbitration for Sports (TAD).
Source: DN
