Eduardo Dâmaso slams referee over Porto-Benfica: killed the game | OneFootball

Eduardo Dâmaso analyzed the sending-off of Clément Lenglet and questioned the proportionality of the referee’s decision in Porto - Benfica. The journalist drew on the legal principles of necessity, suitability, and proportionality to explain why he believes refereeing should also take into account the context of each incident.

"Lenglet’s sending-off reminded me of the little I retained from my time in law school. The principles of necessity, suitability, and proportionality are legal criteria that limit the exercise of public power and generally stem from common sense. When a court or the State restrict rights, they must ask whether the measure is suitable to achieve the aim; whether it is necessary or whether there was another less burdensome option; whether the sacrifice imposed is proportional to the benefit intended to be achieved", he explained in the newspaper 'Record'.

Dâmaso argued that these principles, even if implicitly, are present in the decisions made by referees: "The referee does not exercise exactly that kind of power. He applies a private set of rules whose main objective is to guarantee competitive fairness and predictability. Those principles, however, cannot be alien to him. It is basic common sense. When the referee decides whether a challenge is merely careless, reckless, or uses excessive force, he is making a judgment of proportionality. When he decides between a verbal warning and a card for dissent, he is making a judgment of necessity. When he chooses to play advantage instead of stopping the game, he is weighing suitability," he said.

The journalist also felt that intent and context should be assessed before a disciplinary decision with significant consequences for the match: "In this light, did the Lenglet incident justify the maximum possible disciplinary intervention, knowing that a second yellow card would profoundly alter the game? This is a legitimate question. A judge, a prosecutor, a police officer, and a referee all exercise a power that can profoundly alter the life — or, in football, the result — of others. The greater that power, the greater the caution that should be exercised in its use,” he argued.

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