Email scandal: Priests' club calls for sporting bans on FC Porto | OneFootball

Benfica wants the FC Porto SAD to be subject to "sporting sanctions" following the court decision related to the email case. In this context, the club has submitted a "request for clarification (...) regarding the measures, conclusions, and sporting consequences that the Disciplinary Council will draw from the court decision."

In a statement, Benfica recalls that "between April 2017 and February 2018, FC Porto SAD, through its then Communications Director [Francisco J. Marques], used the club's official channels to repeatedly and publicly disclose content obtained illegally, making serious accusations of corruption, referee manipulation, and distortion of sporting truth by Sport Lisboa e Benfica."

In February of last year, the Supreme Court confirmed the decisions of the Court of Appeal in the so-called email case, obliging FC Porto to compensate Benfica. The management then led by the late Pinto da Costa was ordered to pay Benfica 605,300.90 euros, with an additional 164,000 euros in interest. In total, the club was required to pay around 770,000 euros.

"Sport Lisboa e Benfica informs that it has formally requested clarification from the Disciplinary Council of the Portuguese Football Federation regarding the measures, conclusions, and sporting consequences that the Disciplinary Council will draw from the court decision, now final, which condemns FC Porto SAD in the so-called email case.

Sport Lisboa e Benfica recalls that between April 2017 and February 2018, FC Porto SAD, through its then Communications Director, used the club's official channels to repeatedly and publicly disclose content obtained illegally, making serious accusations of corruption, referee manipulation, and distortion of sporting truth by Sport Lisboa e Benfica—accusations that were proven in court to be false and completely unfounded, also causing serious reputational damage to national competitions and a direct and severe form of pressure on sports agents.

It is also important to emphasize that these actions were carried out in the course of duties, with the knowledge, validation, and public support of the FC Porto SAD administration, not as isolated acts or individual excesses, but rather as a concerted institutional effort.

With the court decision now final, with no possibility of appeal, and considering that the Disciplinary Council initiated a process on this matter at the end of 2017, with no developments over more than eight and a half years, Sport Lisboa e Benfica believes that there are no more facts to ascertain or analyze at this time.

In this sense, it is imperative and urgent that the Disciplinary Council of the Portuguese Football Federation clarifies, unequivocally and without further delay, what sporting consequences and sanctions will be applied to Futebol Clube do Porto, SAD, given the seriousness of the facts confirmed and proven in court."

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