FC Porto urge consistent VAR and refereeing tech in Europe | OneFootball

André Villas-Boas participated last Tuesday in the Men’s Football Working Group, a meeting organized by the European Club Association (EFC) in Frankfurt, where he addressed a set of issues that will be forwarded for analysis and decision by the UEFA Executive Committee.

In a statement released on official platforms, FC Porto mentions that its president conveyed “several concerns to David Elleray, former international referee and representative” of the International Football Association Board (known as IFAB, the body responsible for governing the laws of world football).

“Among the central topics was the international calendar, where the need for more effective alignment between clubs and national federations in the process of calling players to national teams was discussed, as well as proposals aimed at safeguarding the athletes' right to rest and promoting a more balanced management of sports seasons,” it reads.

“The Porto president reinforced the crucial role that IFAB can play in raising UEFA's awareness of the importance of ensuring the uniformity of VAR and refereeing technologies – such as goal-line technology and automatic offside – in all European competitions and, ideally, in all countries in the Top 8 of the UEFA ranking,” it adds.

“David Elleray indicated that there may soon be news and changes to the VAR protocol, allowing its intervention in cases of clear and obvious errors. Measures to increase effective playing time, a growing concern in the international scene, were also discussed,” it concludes.

The Dragons conclude the note by emphasizing that, with this participation, they sought to reinforce “their commitment to positively influencing the European debate, advocating solutions that protect players, promote competitive integrity, and contribute to a fairer, modern, and sustainable football.”

Portuguese football in turmoil

The intervention of André Villas-Boas comes in a week when Portuguese football is experiencing a climate of great tension, mainly due to refereeing controversies in the last two rounds of the Primeira Liga, with particular emphasis on cases involving FC Porto itself.

Fábio Veríssimo, a referee belonging to the Leiria Football Association, accused the club of allegedly pressuring him by placing a television in his locker room where clips were allegedly shown of mistakes he supposedly made, during halftime and after the final whistle of the 2-1 victory over Sporting de Braga.

In the following round, Rui Costa, general director and coach of Benfica, respectively president, general director, and coach, vehemently criticized the refereeing led by Gustavo Correia in the match against Casa Pia, held at Estádio da Luz, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Meanwhile, João Gonçalves also faced strong criticism following the controversial corner kick awarded in favor of Sporting, which resulted in Morten Hjulmand's goal during injury time, securing a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Santa Clara at Estádio de São Miguel, in Ponta Delgada.

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