José Pereira da Costa stunned by complaint lodged against Benfica | OneFootball

José Pereira da Costa, president of Benfica’s General Assembly Board, says he is incredulous at the complaint filed by APAF against Rui Costa and the Club over the criticism aimed at the refereeing team in the draw in Famalicão. When asked about the matter, the Benfica official responded with irony and called for immediate measures.

"It would be ironic, tragic, but it would also be the height of shamelessness if, given what happened on Saturday, Benfica’s president were punished and not those who made the mistake: the referee and the VAR. What APAF has to answer is what it has to say to those who love football, not only Benfica supporters, what it has to say about what happened on Saturday," stressed the Benfica official in statements to BTV, who, unsurprisingly, sided with Rui Costa’s criticism.

"APAF’s focus may be the defense of the refereeing profession, but not even that defense is being made. By not responding to what happened on Saturday, shifting the focus away from the mistake and onto the words of the president who expressed the feelings of Benfica supporters. And who also said that championships should be decided by those on the pitch and not by mistakes, like the one seen on Saturday. The president focused on the mistake because that is what happened."

Given this, Pereira da Costa believes changes in refereeing are needed and calls for a new model. But for now, he is asking for one immediate measure: "We still have 2 matchdays left to play. In the context of enhancing the sector’s credibility - because we do not want to internationalize the mistake, we want to internationalize the product - we are calling for concrete and immediate measures: The publication of the audio is essential for us to understand what happens in that minute in the analysis of that incident."

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