FC Porto say CA and Luciano Gonçalves no longer fit to stay in their roles | OneFootball

In a statement released this Tuesday, in reaction to the appointment of referee Fábio Veríssimo for the derby against Benfica, regarding the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup, FC Porto considered that the Refereeing Council and its president, Luciano Gonçalves, “no longer meet the necessary conditions to continue performing their duties.”

“It is public knowledge that there is an appeal pending before the Court of Arbitration for Sport concerning circumstances reported by the referee in question, related to the match between FC Porto and Braga, played on November 2, 2025. It is also public that FC Porto filed a disciplinary complaint against the same referee, related to events that occurred in the match between Arouca and FC Porto, held on September 29, 2025, the outcome of which is still unknown,” the statement reads.

Read the full statement below:

“FC Porto became aware today of the appointment of referee Fábio Veríssimo to officiate the match between FC Porto and SL Benfica, which will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, at Estádio do Dragão.

It is public knowledge that there is an appeal pending before the Court of Arbitration for Sport concerning circumstances reported by the referee in question, related to the match between FC Porto and SC Braga, played on November 2, 2025.

It is also public that FC Porto filed a disciplinary complaint against the same referee, related to events that occurred in the match between FC Arouca and FC Porto, held on September 29, 2025, the outcome of which is still unknown.

In this context, the decision of the Refereeing Council to proceed with this appointment is, from an objective point of view, absolutely incomprehensible and likely to negatively affect the image and credibility of Portuguese football, in addition to being detrimental to the referee involved.

This episode is part of a series of decisions taken by the Refereeing Council throughout the current season that have contributed to the progressive erosion of trust in the refereeing sector and to the discrediting of Portuguese football, demonstrating, in FC Porto’s opinion, that this body and, specifically, its President, Luciano Gonçalves, no longer meet the necessary conditions to continue performing their duties.

FC Porto also recalls that refereeing was presented by the current Board of the Portuguese Football Federation as one of the central pillars of its project for national football, and it is therefore legitimate to question, in light of recent events, whether this project continues to offer the necessary guarantees to ensure a credible, transparent, and sustainable future for Portuguese football.

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