The APAF (Portuguese Association of Football Referees) has already denounced Rui Costa, president of Benfica, for the statements he made in Braga after Benfica’s defeat against Sp. Braga also on Thursday for approaching referee Tiago Martins in the access tunnel to the dressing rooms, according to DN.
Indictment is a common practice of the association of referees, led by Luciano Gonçalves, when criticism of the refereeing team goes beyond what it considers to be the limits of what is acceptable. That is what happened to the incarnate president, who made no secret of his displeasure at the Portuguese Cup quarter-final referee’s “double criteria”.
“There were too many cases and too obvious to mince words here. There is a very clear penalty against Gonçalo Guedes. Strangely enough with the same referee who was VAR at Estádio da Luz a few weeks ago and almost forced Artur Soares Dias called in. scoring a penalty kick against us at Benfica-Sporting, in a move with exactly the same dynamic, this one with more intensity but turned a blind eye. Mr. Fábio Melo, the VAR, also turned a blind eye to that same move,” exploded Rui Costa, at the end of the meeting and already after confronting the match referee in the access tunnel to the dressing room. Attitude now denounced.
The disciplinary board of the Portuguese Football Federation now has the floor and can start disciplinary proceedings to find out what happened in the Braga tunnel and to review the content of the statements made by the president of Benfica for “possible incorrect conduct in breach of general duties” by sports agents.
Source: DN
