The Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP) revealed this Tuesday that the increase in working time in the I Liga “is already within the ‘big five’ average” and that sporting justice is “faster than ever”.
During a meeting with the media in Porto to publicize the evolution of the main axes announced by the LPFP in August, the board led by Pedro Proença, who was not present, also spoke about the process of centralization of audiovisual rights.
Speed of sporting justice, return of supporters to stadiums, safe and attractive spectacle, centralization of audiovisual rights, competitiveness of clubs and the sector and the LPFP prepared for the future are the general objectives of the organization.
According to the LPFP, the implementation of the Commission of Instructors’ exclusivity model has made it possible to reduce the number of pending cases from 18 in September to four in December, and reduce the average instruction period from 88 days in 2021/22 to 32.
In terms of playing time, the figures point to 55.5% in the first 13 rounds of the I Liga, which represents an increase of 5.4% compared to the 2021/22 season.
The LPFP registered 1.36 million spectators in the first 13 rounds of the I Liga, which represents an increase of 88.5% compared to the 2021/22 season, which started still conditioned by covid-19, and 20.4 % in the II Liga ( 110 thousand).
The body overseeing professional football also recalled that the video refereeing system (VAR), which has already been implemented in all League Cup matches this season and which will be formatted, will be extended to the II from the 2023/24 season League.
To make football safer and more attractive, the LPFP announced several measures, including participation in an informal working group on proposals to combat violence related to sport, set up by the Secretary of State for Youth and Sport.
The organization is promoting monthly meetings with the security directors and the medical departments of the clubs and is studying other proposals, such as the global reformulation of the League’s rules for 2023/24, the supervision of searches at the entrance of the stadiums and a method that makes the nominative control of access to buildings is possible.
This system, still according to the LPFP, is not intended to revive the idea of the Fan Card, which was subject to controversy after its creation, since it is not a discriminatory and restrictive method, but that it gives access to the locations in safety.
The LPFP also took stock of the preparation of the process of centralization of audiovisual rights, starting with the 2027/28 season, and announced the regulation of audiovisual and economic control towards the end of 2022/23.
The organization hopes to make the product more attractive with centralization and admits to redefining the formats of the League Cup, which will become a “final four”, giving it an international character, and of the Portuguese Cup, in coordination with the Portuguese Football Association football association (FPF).
As for the professional leagues, of the I and II Liga, they keep the existing format of 18 teams.
The LPFP, as the interlocutor of professional football with the government, has negotiated amendments to the occupational accident insurance system and the law on violence in sport, as well as the evaluation of the reformulation of the legal system of sports companies.
Active participation with the entities responsible for legislative changes that determine the competitiveness of professional football, namely the revision of the Sports Betting Decree Law and the reformulation of the tax framework (VAT, IRC and IRS), are other intentions of the LPFP.
Looking ahead, the LPFP, with a result of 1.19 million euros in the 2021/22 season and income from 22ME, says that “it has financial strength that allows it to actively support sports companies”.
In this area, emphasis should be placed on strengthening the Cohesion Fund, which amounted to almost EUR 1 million, for the creation of a fund to support the development of technological infrastructures, worth EUR 550 thousand, and a centralized funding program of clubs , worth 10 million.
Source: DN
