Mourinho slams Farioli’s antics before Benfica v Porto, Pinto agrees | OneFootball

The discussion around the so-called "strategic stoppages" has returned to the forefront of the debate before the Classic between Benfica and Porto. Vítor Pinto recalled an episode that occurred on November 29, in a match between Manchester City and Leeds United, where the game was momentarily interrupted.

"The goalkeeper Donnarumma suddenly claims an injury, allowing Pep Guardiola to create a 'technical timeout'," he writes in the newspaper 'Record'. The moment generated great outrage in the opposing team, which considered the situation a ploy used to reorganize the team.

The topic gained even more traction after the words of José Mourinho in the preview of the duel between eagles and dragons. The coach criticized these types of behaviors and called them "foolishness", in a direct reference to similar game stoppages recently seen in European football.

Vítor Pinto links these criticisms to an episode involving the Italian coach, when, in Alvalade, he allegedly resorted to a similar pause after a supposed physical problem of the blue and white goalkeeper: "It was a direct jab at the timeout that Francesco Farioli created against Sporting, through an injury to Diogo Costa".

Amid the growing controversy, the International Football Association Board already admits to studying changes in the rules. The columnist mentions that the entity is even considering an "Anti-Foolishness Law", with measures to protect fair play, although any changes are not expected to come into effect before 2026/27: "Decency is left to the individual level of cunning of each coach".

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