Match officials are speaking out against alleged intimidation as teams highlight controversial decisions
After a series of incidents involving insults and alleged intimidation that have plunged Portuguese football into turmoil, the country’s referees are breaking their silence and protesting.
Match officials are speaking out against what they describe as intimidation from clubs and officials, staging pre-match protests in a rare act of defiance. The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) has held emergency meetings with referee representatives, but clubs continue to highlight controversial decisions.
So how did it come to this? Relations between referees and clubs have never been warm in Portugal – some clubs have historically demanded behind closed doors that certain officials be kept off their games and in late July Benfica publicly criticised the appointment of Fábio Veríssimo for their Super Cup game against Sporting. Yet in recent weeks things have reached boiling point.
On 2 November Veríssimo accused Porto of pressuring him by broadcasting a replay of a disallowed goal on a television in his dressing room during half-time. With the game goalless, Veríssimo had blown for a foul after a Porto player collided with the Braga goalkeeper, ruling out a goal scored from the loose ball. According to Veríssimo’s official report, the television could not be turned off.
