Bought his place: João Gabriel makes explosive claims about the FPF | OneFootball

João Gabriel leveled harsh criticism at Pedro Proença’s leadership of the FPF, following Duarte Gomes’s resignation from the position of National Technical Director of Refereeing. In a post on social media, Benfica’s former communications director accused the head of the body of being focused on personal interests rather than the development of Portuguese football, while also stating that Luciano Gonçalves, president of the Federation’s Refereeing Council, “bought his place.”

“For two years I have been writing and maintaining, first, that Pedro Proença would be the worst possible solution for the Portuguese Football Federation. Then, when he was elected, that he would be the worst thing that could have happened to the FPF. Proença never had, does not have and never will have any project for Portuguese football. He only has a personal project in which there is room for no one else!” he wrote on LinkedIn.

The former Benfica official also pointed the finger at the work carried out during his time as president of Liga Portugal: “He was president of the League, but spent the last two years practically campaigning, funded with the clubs’ money. And in doing so he left the League financially devastated. He arrived at the Federation and wanted to change everything: the names of the awards, the Summits, the logo and, in truth, everything that came before. Not because it was bad, but because it came from Fernando Gomes, and so a few million were spent.”

João Gabriel also took aim at Luciano Gonçalves, president of the Refereeing Council, making accusations about the process that led to his election. “Luciano Gonçalves only became president of the CA because he ‘bought’ that position with APAF’s support for Pedro Proença’s candidacy. And it was not an isolated case. The current FPF is a structure built more on relationships of loyalty, completely uncritical and submissive, than on merit-based criteria. The Refereeing Council put forward by Nuno Lobo’s candidacy was more competent and independent, but the commitments ‘paid for’ with trips and positions ultimately prevailed over the choice of those who were better prepared for the role.”

Regarding Duarte Gomes’s departure, he believed that responsibility cannot be attributed solely to the head of refereeing: “From the statements, it can be concluded that there were serious failings that compromised the integrity of the competition. Responsibility for these cannot be limited only to Luciano Gonçalves. In a Federation where all decisions go through Pedro Proença, it is easy to understand that the president of the FPF was involved in all of them, whatever they may have been. If Luciano Gonçalves decides to speak, the current leadership will fall, but the most likely scenario, however, is that he will seek to defend himself while, at the same time, protecting those above him.”

João Gabriel also criticized Rui Costa and ended with a warning aimed at the Federation president: “At Benfica’s last General Assembly, Rui Costa must have banged his fist on the table for the forty-first time, now threatening zero tolerance for someone he blindly and totally irresponsibly supported a year ago, ignoring the warnings and the wishes of Benfica supporters. I only hope that none of the presidents of the associations who spent four days in Houston, in the federation delegation, remembers to order a bust — apparently already in production — in honor of Pedro Proença, and even less to see Rui Costa applauding the unveiling of that bust at the City of Football. Pedro Proença really does risk fulfilling his motto ‘doing what has not yet been done,’ but not for the reasons imagined,” he concluded. Recently, the former official called Marco Silva a “tenant.”

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