The Government is closely following the evolution of the case of the Villa Athletic Club, a newly created football club that is in financial trouble and in arrears of salary with the players, the Secretary of State for Sport said this Thursday.
“As for Villa Athletic Club, we know that there is a mistake on the part of the club’s management in relation to its players. Unfortunately, this is not an unprecedented case and, unfortunately, during the seasons we see cases like the one at Villa Athletic Club, of non-compliance with salary agreements between the club’s directors and its athletes and employees,” said João Paulo Correia, at a conference press, at the end of the Council of Ministers.
Founded on June 14, 2022, with headquarters in Ponte de Sor, Villa Athletic Club was registered in the competitions of the Associação de Futebol de Portalegre (AFP), but missed the first match of the AFP Remax Cup and, in the second round, on Sunday, in Elvas, he played with 12 players, without a coaching staff and with equipment provided by the Grupo Desportivo Samora Correia.
The president of Villa, Fábio Lopes, said on Wednesday that the creation of this club, which competes in the districts of Portalegre, was not intended to be a business, but that “the business of football” destroyed it, after already admitting that the shield is bypassing. “very difficult days”, due to financial difficulties, and that he is looking for “feasibility solutions” for the project.
“It was never a business. But it was the soccer business that destroyed it,” Fábio Lopes, a well-known broadcaster, launched on Wednesday through the social network Instagram, noting that “the dream became a nightmare.”
The Secretary of State has assured today that “the Government is also following up through the position that the sports authorities have taken publicly, like yesterday [quarta-feira] the Portalegre Football Association”, and adds that “the Ponte de Sor City Council itself has also announced the resolution of the contract for the transfer of facilities”.
The president of the Portalegre Football Association (AFP), Daniel Pina, said on Wednesday that Villa complied with the legal conditions to compete in the competitions in which he remains inserted, and it is not possible for that body to reject his registration.
The official stressed that the AFP “does not pronounce” on internal issues of its affiliated clubs and, in particular, on organizational problems at Villa Athletic Club, leaving, however, a “word of comfort and solidarity” to the players.
For its part, 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 .
That same day, the Football Players’ Union criticized the situation at Villa Athletic, which would have left the players in a precarious situation.
According to public information, the project, created by Fábio Lopes, together with people linked to music, led to the hiring, among others, of some well-known names in football, such as former player Meyong, to train the team, and veterans . Edinho and Andre Carvalhas.
João Paulo Correia made an appeal today so that “all sports agents commit themselves even more in what should be the fight against this type of situation, so that they stop happening in national sport and, specifically, in football”.
Source: TSF
