Famalicão president blasts refereeing at Estádio da Luz: “Azores cyclone repeat” | OneFootball

Miguel Ribeiro entered the press room at Estádio da Luz visibly displeased with the defeat against Benfica (0-1), attributing the outcome to the performance of the refereeing team led by André Narciso.

“I understand what we experienced here today is called… it’s a case to be studied by ITMA. Because we clearly witnessed a replica of the Azores cyclone. And I regret that a club that is growing, with young players, with a lot of quality, as they showed today, with a coach who also proposes and has a very high-quality game plan, is somehow a victim in Lisbon of a replica of the Azores cyclone. We are far away, but this will surely be something for ITMA to study today, because I can’t find another institution capable of doing so, when we’re talking about replicas of the cyclone,” said the official, alluding to the penalty awarded to Benfica in the first half.

In the 29th minute, Sudakov took a lateral free kick into the Minho area. Center-back Justin de Haas cleared with his head, but the ball ended up hitting his arm and then Otamendi, who was left lying on the pitch. Initially, referee André Narciso let play continue, but after a VAR review, he awarded a penalty, amid strong protests from Hugo Oliveira’s team.

Pavlidis converted the penalty in the 34th minute and secured all three points for Benfica, who, for the time being, caught up with Sporting in second place in the standings, with 35 points, eight points behind Benfica.

Miguel Ribeiro’s reference to the “Azores Cyclone” refers to the controversial Portuguese Cup match between Santa Clara and Sporting, refereed by João Pinheiro, who awarded a highly disputed penalty. In stoppage time, VAR alerted the referee to an incident involving Morten Hjulmand in the area; Sporting ended up equalizing (2-2) in added time and won in extra time (3-2).

The episode provoked reactions from Benfica and FC Porto, who called on Pedro Proença, president of the Portuguese Football Federation, to take responsibility.

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