CCTV, witnesses: No proof VAR was switched off on purpose in Porto-Braga | OneFootball

The FC Porto-Sp. Braga (2-1) match, part of the 10th round of the Liga Betclic, experienced a VAR system outage at the end of the halftime break, delaying the start of the second half by 45 seconds. The FPF Disciplinary Council launched an inquiry into the incident, which was later archived.

With the publication of the inquiry's decision, it is clear that the Commission of Instructors analyzed surveillance footage and heard five witnesses, without being able to obtain sufficient evidence of any intentional deactivation of the VAR. "Indeed: it was not possible to identify, via CCTV footage, any unequivocal positive act of disconnection; and the most plausible explanation, in light of what was found, is an accidental disconnection, the specific author of which could not be determined and which, by itself, does not support the violation of regulatory duties by any particular agent or entity. (...) Considering the sufficiency of the steps taken (which dispense with the need for additional ones), it is believed that there are not enough data, elements, or circumstances that, weighed together and even through logical-rational reasoning, allow for a serious and well-founded admission of any reasonable possibility of determining a violation of regulatory norms or the commission of any disciplinary infraction within the scope of the facts under investigation in this inquiry," reads the conclusion of the process.

In examining the footage, the Commission of Instructors did not find any action linking the disconnection of the VAR system plug to the power outlet located on a parapet next to the central stand of the Estádio do Dragão, highlighting the presence of a person who was later identified during the proceedings.

First, Rui Rodrigues, the VAR support technician for FC Porto, was heard, whose responsibility is "to ensure the electrical power supply for the system, as well as provide support if requested by Altice and/or Media Pro technicians." The interviewee stated that he only learned of the power failure the day after the match: "I found out, after the day of the game, through the Field Director of FC Porto SAD, that the system, in the part corresponding to the review area, was not functioning for a short period, near the start of the second half of the game, however, the system's operation was quickly restored. It was conveyed to him that there is no suspicion of any malicious action, with the most likely cause of the interruption being someone tripping over a wire, accidentally unplugging it."

José António Monteiro, a Media Pro technician, stated he was "absolutely certain that the plug was connected to the outlet at the start of the interval, having a perfect memory of checking the connection before leaving the location" and added that "as far as he could tell, the UPS [uninterruptible power supply] supported the operation of the equipment in the review area for about 10 minutes."

In turn, Carlos Carvalho, FC Porto's security director, said he did not recognize the person highlighted in one of the surveillance images, whose identification was initially unknown, but suggested it might be the technician responsible for the CO2 jets activated when the teams entered the field. This was followed by the testimony of Marco Paiva, FC Porto's field director, who "stated that all CCTV footage was examined without detecting any fact that could have caused such an interruption" and "explained that the wire reaches the outlet through a technical duct, which runs the space between the review area and the aforementioned parapet," adding that "since the wire passes through this duct, it is impossible for someone to have tripped over it, thus unplugging it." Marco Paiva then identified the person highlighted as Tiago Bernardo, a collaborator of CJR – Pirotecnia e Explosivos, S.A., who provided services to FC Porto related to the CO2 jets.

Tiago Bernardo confirmed that, within his duties, he needs to "use several cables/electrical wires that are connected to outlets located about 25 meters from where he is in the aforementioned image," because "only there are three-phase outlets, of 32 Amperes, which are suitable for the equipment in question, and which do not confuse with the outlets closer to the review area." "He also added that he took care not to mix the aforementioned cables/electrical wires with those connected to any other equipment, and covered them with synthetic grass mats to eliminate the risk of someone tripping over them. When asked, he stated that there is a technical duct that runs the space between the review area and the parapet of the stand, which he presumes is intended for the cable that supplies electricity to the equipment in the review area, for which there is a dedicated outlet, next to the gate seen in the image, on the aforementioned parapet. When asked, he stated that, in theory, it is not impossible that his manipulation of any equipment caused the disconnection of this plug/cable from the respective outlet, however, given the care he took and what he observed on-site, this is highly unlikely," the document reads.

In light of the facts and testimonies, the investigator recommended "the archiving of the case, concluding that, despite the relevance of the facts under investigation – temporary interruption of the VAR system's operation, with a 45-second delay in the resumption of the 2nd half of the game in question –, no indicative elements were collected that allow attributing such occurrence to any disciplinarily relevant conduct."

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