According to the process that will review the appeals filed by 31 sports companies and by the Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP), on which the Competition Authority (AdC) has imposed fines totaling 11.3 million euros, the Competition, Regulation and Supervision (TCRS), issued an urgency certificate in Santarém for the execution of the full amount requested on Boavista.
The club was the only one not to pay the bail agreed in the preliminary session of December 7, 2022 within the deadline set by the TCRS (January 27, after an extension of seven days).
In an order dated January 30, and consulted by Lusa, judge Mariana Gomes Machado ordered the immediate issuance of the voluntary payment guide, until February 3, of the 99,000 euros imposed on Boavista by the AdC, since the club had no deposit done to date the 29,700 euros (corresponding to 30% of the fine), as agreed on December 7.
Pursuant to the TCRS’s order, Boavista claimed in an application to be in “very serious financial difficulties” and to have been unable to raise income for the period allowed by the court to pay the established guarantee.
Boavista stated that she was aware of the guides’ demand to pay the full amount of the fine and said it was not possible for her to make that payment, a situation she considered “deplorable” for the club, since, it claims, with the execution, it can be declared judicially insolvent.
The TCRS points out that the application was submitted after the time allowed for payment of only 30% of the fine, in order to obtain suspensory effect, and that Boavista also benefited from a “waiting period”.
“Despite the complacency of the court, nothing happened, since an application was made only after the issuance of an order ruling that the guarantee had not been provided and ordering the issuance of an invoice for the payment of the penalty, under penalty of execution,” the order reads.
Mariana Machado recalls that the fine was set by the AdC taking into account the turnover of Boavista Futebol Clube’s SAD, with no “document or evidence” questioning the calculated value, nor “let alone that the allegation of insolvency”. “.
Since the court had not made the voluntary payment of 99,000 euros on February 3, the court determined that the immediate issuance of a certificate for the execution of the full fine should be carried out, to be processed with an urgent character, as stated in the order of January 30.
A judicial source told Lusa that six of the club’s bank accounts had been frozen.
In the case of Rio Ave, which was postponed until February 2 for the payment of the agreed €32,600, following a request claiming it was going through a “transitional period of particular financial difficulties”, the club issued proof of payment of the deposit.
The SAD of Boavista Futebol Clube was therefore the only appellant of the fines imposed by the AdC that did not comply with the agreement at the hearing on December 7.
Guarantees can be provided by means of a bank guarantee, deposit on the TCRS application or in securities, provided they are listed on the stock exchange.
The TCRS created five groups with different percentage values, taking into account the different situation of the clubs, and has exempted Académica de Coimbra, which is insolvent, and Leixões and Belenenses, since they are undergoing a special revitalization process, from providing collateral.
Of the 14 smaller companies required to provide a 20% guarantee, 13 met the deadline – Viseu, Tondela, Famalicão, Moreirense, Vitória de Guimarães, Farense, Mafra, Estoril Praia, Penafiel, Covilhã, Oliveirense, Varzim, Vilafranquense -, Rio Ave has paid within the additional period granted to him.
Of the six who agreed to make a deposit of 30% of the value of the fine – Marítimo, Boavista, Paços de Ferreira, Santa Clara, Portimonense and Gil Vicente – only Boavista defaulted.
In the group of 40% were Liga, Braga and Sporting (the latter given the argument that, despite being one of the “big ones”, it has a more fragile financial situation, given the loss of income to the exclusion of the Champions League).
Sporting’s guarantee (666,400 euros) was partially paid on behalf of the file (416,500 euros), the remaining 249,900 euros in mortgage on a piece of land belonging to a company that is part of SAD.
Sport Lisboa e Benfica (SLB) and Futebol Clube do Porto (FCP), companies with the highest fines (almost 4.2 million euros and 2.6 million euros respectively), provided guarantees of 50%, with the SLB providing a bank guarantee and the FCP presented 1.4 million SAD shares, with a market value of more than 1.4 million euros.
The process concerns the signing, in May 2020, of an agreement between members of the LPFP not to employ football players who have been unilaterally terminated for reasons related to covid-19, a situation that the Competition Authority deemed “an anti-competitive agreement on the labor market”. “.
The start of the trial is scheduled for May 3.
Source: DN
