Heads up, Benfica! TAD reaches final decision on Mário Branco | OneFootball

In the last few hours, the TAD revealed that it denied the appeal submitted by Mário Branco, general director of Benfica. It was determined that the legal institution concluded that the arguments presented by the director were not strong enough to overturn the punishment he had received for criticisms directed at the refereeing.

According to the ruling issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Mário Branco will have to serve the 68-day suspension and, at the same time, pay a fine of 7,650 euros, following inappropriate words directed at the referee and VAR during the match between Benfica and Casa Pia on November 9 of last year.

As confirmed in the verdict presented by the TAD, Mário Branco acknowledged that the words directed at the refereeing team were "incorrect and inappropriate," however, the Portuguese director also believes that the suspension and fine were "manifestly disproportionate, unjust, and unreasonable in light of the principle of guilt."

It should be recalled that on November 9, 2025, at the end of the match where Benfica drew 2-2 with Casa Pia, Mário Branco made threats to Gustavo Correia and the VAR of the match, saying things like: "Clowns of the...", "Shame" and "I'll break you completely."

At a time when Benfica is preparing for the duel with Arouca - having some doubts -, the TAD, in addition to denying Mário Branco's appeal, ruled that the general director of the club must pay the costs of the process, amounting to around 50,000 euros.

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