The Portuguese arbitration “is not experiencing a good moment in the relationship between quantity and quantity,” laments former judge Pedro Henriques, who sees Artur Soares Dias and João Pinheiro with excessive presence in First Football League decisions.
“There are second lines for the normal championship, but when it comes to a decision, there is none. I think this reveals the greatest sin of this arbitration committee.” [CA] of the Portuguese Football Federation [FPF]who ends his second term next year and has failed to solve a problem that we have criticized for years, which is having four, five or six umpires with a handful”analyzed the former referee, aged 57, who has officiated more than 350 games in the two professional divisions.
Artur Soares Dias refereed half of the six ‘big’ games played in the 2022/23 edition of the I Liga between champions Benfica, ‘vice’ FC Porto and Sporting, fourth, while João Pinheiro was nominated for two, with Nuno Almeida at the wheel one.
“You don’t have to go back very far. It takes 20 years or even less to remember referees who were called in rotation for these matches. Suddenly a few names immediately came to mind: Olegário Benquerença, Pedro Proença, Duarte Gomes, Paulo Costa, Paulo Paraty, Lucílio Baptista or João Ferreira. Some could do better and others could do worse, but they were called because there was confidence in the refereeing and in football itself. At the moment we don’t have that.”thought Pedro Henriques.
Fábio Veríssimo, part of the squad of nine Portuguese referees with international badges in 2023, led the ranking of games played in the I Liga this season (21), just ahead of Artur Soares Dias and João Pinheiro (both with 20) , with the debutants Bruno Costa, Carlos Macedo or Hélder Carvalho and João Gonçalves in the background (all limited to nine).
In two of the 306 games played at the top level, the French Pierre Gaillouste and Bastien Dechepy played, under the terms of the arbitration exchange started since 2021/22 between the FPF and the French counterpart in the main professional levels of each country.
The current age limit for judges is set at 45 and could go up to 48 if the CA agrees, but a new FPF refereeing regulation will give careers in the industry the chance to add an additional two years, up to a maximum of 50.
Nuno Almeida is the oldest of the 22 referees on the main staff, turning 48 in July, while Rui Costa will turn 47 in June and Manuel Mota will turn 46 in March.
“It remains to try to understand whether it is something that will also depend on the will of the FPF board of directors or whether it becomes a rule even if the body does not want it. That makes the difference. The idea was somehow to take advantage of those who reach the top and stay there and not lose them as it is difficult to recruit good referees and get them to the I Liga”noted Pedro Henriques, who feared that “it is a loose electoral measure” by the entity led by José Fontelas Gomes that is considering the 2024 federal suffrage.
Another recently announced decision by the CA of the FPF was the signing of a partnership protocol with the Union of Professional Soccer Players (SJPF) to allow direct access to the refereeing career of former federation players, without age limits, by attending a Training Action from 8 pm.
“There is an additional measure of looking for people with ‘know-how’ and experience to continue their career in football with new positions and of course at lower levels. Sometimes there are minor injuries that prevent an athlete from playing anymore, but in be able to referee. There’s no shock, just the racing part.”remembered.
Beyond the measures, Pedro Henriques condemns the absence of external communication adopted by the CA during the season and accuses the federative body of not allowing “José Fontelas Gomes to come and speak whenever he wants on technical issues or the arbitration sector “.
“There is a lot we don’t understand. Why do we have a protocol with France? [na elite], but will there be another with Cyprus for the II League? The referees from these countries come here, ours go abroad and where is the report that shows what happened and what the pros and cons are?”concluded the current television and radio commentator.
Source: DN
