Before Benfica v Santa Clara, top Eagles official chased by Pedro Proença | OneFootball

The Disciplinary Council of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), chaired by Pedro Proença, has initiated an inquiry against Mário Branco, regarding Benfica’s visit to Alverca’s ground. At the end of that match, the fourth round of Liga Portugal Betclic, in which the Eagles won 2-1, the general director of Benfica’s football department made comments about João Bessa’s refereeing, which are the basis of this process.

In that match, Amar Dedic received his second yellow card in the 71st minute and was consequently sent off. This decision by the referee did not sit well with Mário Branco, who, at the end of the match, ended up questioning the refereeing criteria, calling them extremely strict.

“We will be paying close attention to these refereeing criteria. We made sure to be at the City of Football at the start of the season and were not made aware of the strict criteria used in this match. We received a yellow card every two fouls, which seems extremely strict to me,” Mário Branco told the media after the final whistle of Alverca - Benfica.

Due to the sending off, Dedic will not be available for Bruno Lage’s right flank, as they host Santa Clara this Friday in the fifth round of the National Championship. However, the Eagles’ coach will resort to an old formula to make up for the absence of the 23-year-old, betting on Tomás Araújo for the right-back position.

Although the suspension applied to Dedic is valid for only one match, the footballer is expected to remain out of Bruno Lage’s options for a few more games, considering he left the Bosnia vs. Austria match injured during the World Cup qualifying phase, appearing to be in considerable pain with his knee.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.