The president of the Portalegre Football Association (AFP) said this Wednesday that Villa Athletic Club complied with the legal conditions to compete in the competitions in which it remains inserted, and it is not possible for that body to reject its registration.
“A club, to join the AFP, as in any football association in the country, must be a legally constituted club, with statutes and governing bodies and have its headquarters and field within the jurisdiction of that association, and that is what happened”, said Daniel Pina.
The president of the AFP, who was speaking at a press conference, explained that Villa Athletic Club “fulfilled all these requirements” and requested its affiliation to the AFP, which, in turn, presented all the documentation to the “Platform Puntage” required for approval. by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), which “came to happen” on August 1.
“The AFP, being a Public Utility Entity, cannot reject affiliates as long as they meet the requirements that I have already mentioned and after validation by the FPF,” he added.
“It was not the AFP that created the club, it was not the AFP that made the club’s statutes, it was not the AFP that chose the governing bodies of the club, it was not the AFP that rented premises in Ponte de Sor to house the club and it was not the AFP that ceded the Municipal Stadium of Ponte de Sor to the club”, he stressed.
Daniel Pina, who also took care to clarify that the AFP “does not pronounce” on internal issues of its affiliated clubs and, in particular, on organizational problems at Villa Athletic Club, however, left a “word of comfort and solidarity” for Players.
The Ponte de Sor City Council announced this Tuesday, through a statement, that it revoked the transfer of the facilities of its Municipal Stadium and multipurpose venue to Villa Athletic Club, for the football matches of the 2022/2023 season.
The decision covers the official matches of the senior and junior categories of the contests carried out by the AFP and comes after the absence of Villa, visiting, in the match of the first day of the Remax Cup in Portalegre, on October 9. without the municipality “being officially informed of the reason for this absence, having complied with all the logistical requirements regarding the availability of resources inherent to the departure.”
Villa Athletic Club was founded on June 14, 2022, in Ponte de Sor, and is going through serious difficulties, since “the planned initial investments did not materialize” and the club now “has some difficulties at the level of direct sponsorships with the brands” . , also revealed on Tuesday Fábio Lopes, president of the club, in a statement sent to Lusa.
In the second round, on Sunday, in Elvas, Villa appeared with 12 players, without a coaching staff and with equipment provided by the Grupo Desportivo Samora Correia.
Four players also expressed their discontent on Tuesday over alleged salary arrears and lack of conditions of the club president, at the door of the Renascença Group, in Lisbon, according to the online edition of the Récord sports newspaper.
Asked by journalists about the club’s future in AFP competitions, Daniel Pina explained that Villa Athletic Club must indicate “as soon as possible” the field where it will play, otherwise “it cannot continue to be affiliated” with that association.
During the meeting with the journalists, Daniel Pina acknowledged that it may be “more desirable” that the clubs that intend to reach other levels, such as the Portuguese Championship, join the AFP competitions or other associations, particularly from the interior , which group a few clubs.
“In places where there are fewer clubs, where there is only one division, where the champion has direct access to national competitions, obviously it becomes more desirable, but those are factors that we don’t control,” he said.
From the 2015/2016 sports season to the present, the Futebol Clube Mosteirense team, from the municipality of Arronches (Portalegre), was crowned district soccer champion three times, but the same team did not compete in the Portuguese Championship.
Source: TSF
