FC Porto v Benfica: What if the derby gets postponed?

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Portal dos Dragões

·3 October 2025

FC Porto v Benfica: What if the derby gets postponed?

The regulations of the League’s competitions provide for the postponement of a match when a team does not have at least 13 eligible players available, including a goalkeeper, with the condition that the players’ unavailability must be certified by health authorities.

At Benfica, according to reports by A BOLA, several players and members of the coaching staff—including José Mourinho—are showing symptoms of viral origin. The next few hours will be decisive in assessing the clinical condition of the athletes, and there is concern that more players may become unavailable before the match against FC Porto, scheduled for Sunday at 9:15 p.m.

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A BOLA adds, however, that the situation is not so serious as to lead Benfica to consider postponing the match.

Article 46-A Game Postponement Rules

Without prejudice to the provisions of the previous article, a match must be postponed whenever a club does not have, with proper certification, a minimum of 13 eligible players to participate, of which at least one must be a goalkeeper.
Unfitness to play must be certified before the start of the match by the following entities or persons: a) Directorate-General of Health, in the case of a positive SARS-CoV-2 test and/or prophylactic isolation of squad players; b) a doctor from the National Health Service, in the case of an outbreak of another contagious, viral, or bacterial disease that results in unfitness to play; c) the club’s doctor, in the case of injury or illness from other causes, provided it is confirmed by a National Health Service doctor through a signed certificate with the respective stamp, submitted to Liga Portugal within 24 hours; d) Liga Portugal, through the player’s disciplinary record, in the case of serving a disciplinary suspension.
The decision to postpone lies with the President of Liga Portugal, together with an Executive Director.
A match postponed under this regime must be rescheduled for a date to be agreed upon by the clubs within two working days following the original match date or, failing that, according to paragraph 2 of Article 44.
In all cases, the rescheduling of the match: a) must comply with the requirements of paragraph 5 of Article 44; b) must be set for a period between the 5th and 15th day, counted from the end of the general unfitness of the squad; c) cannot be scheduled for a date later than the weekend following the official date of the last round of the championships organized by Liga Portugal.

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