The Disciplinary Board of the Portuguese Football Association has closed the case against a journalist from SportTV and will disapply Article 91 of the League’s competition rules for being unconstitutional and in violation of freedom of the press.
In a statement published today on the federation’s official website, the agency reaffirmed that the opening of disciplinary proceedings was “mandatory”, taking into account the legal duty when “materiality predisposes to configuring, in abstracto, disciplinary violations ” is reported.
“The Disciplinary Board, having concluded the process which is the indispensable precondition for its decision, has decided by Judgment to close the disciplinary process arising from the indictment in an official report of the game of non-compliance by a field reporter of the tasks related to the flash interview, as it believes that Article 91 of the regulations for competitions organized by Liga Portugal is unconstitutional,” the statement reads.
The lawsuit, which was filed on August 30, came after Rita Latas, journalist for the SportTV channel, asked the coach of the Lions “outside the context of the game that had just ended”, and thus Article 91 of the regulations. for competitions organized by Liga Portugal. .
The question, posed in the quick interview section, related to former Sporting player, Islam Slimani.
“It was the Disciplinary Board’s decision to start the process it was obliged to and refused to turn a blind eye to a complaint, thus clarifying, by unanimous decision, that journalists cannot be prohibited from asking questions with a certain content in the context of football competitions. It was the respect for the rule of law that forced the initiation of the disciplinary procedure,” he explained.
The federated body went further, announcing that it will no longer apply the article in question, because “restricting freedom of the press in the name of protecting infra-constitutional values, namely the property interests of the sports event organizer and the television broadcasters, is an apparent illegal rule in light of the Constitution”.
Source: DN
