Porto accuse Veríssimo of threats and ignoring incidents in Arouca | OneFootball

The Disciplinary Council (CD) of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) has dismissed the complaint filed by FC Porto against referee Fábio Veríssimo, related to the controversial FC Porto-Sp. Braga match, but also based on the Arouca-FC Porto game, which was also refereed by Veríssimo. The decision of the inquiry process became public this Monday and describes the allegations made by the Dragons and the referee’s defense.

In summary, FC Porto accused Fábio Veríssimo of making threatening and provocative statements to a club official and of omitting facts in his report on the Arouca-FC Porto match, as well as recording inaccuracies in the report of the match against Sp. Braga at the Dragão stadium.

The club’s executive manager and regular match delegate, Henrique Monteiro, is a central figure in the process, and it was his testimony that triggered the investigation. According to this official, when he approached Fábio Veríssimo’s dressing room at the end of the match in Arouca, on matchday 7 of Liga Portugal Betclic, to wish him a good rest of the season, he allegedly heard the following phrases from the referee, interpreted as threats: “Engineer Luís Gonçalves, you are forgiven. Come back, you are forgiven” and “you need to learn, you need to be sent off once or twice to learn.”

In its accusation, FC Porto claims that these interactions were not included in the referee’s report and that their omission “compromises the truthfulness of the report.”

Regarding the match against Sp. Braga, on matchday 10, in which Henrique Monteiro was sent off by Fábio Veríssimo, the referee recorded in the report that the official had left the technical area to contest a decision and that, among other expressions, he allegedly said: “Vai para o cara***, pá.” FC Porto contested both facts, stating that Monteiro did not leave the technical area—providing images in support—and that the delegate at the match actually said: “A bola não saiu, é uma vergonha, cara***, pá.” The club therefore argued that there was no factual basis for the report.

When questioned during the inquiry, Fábio Veríssimo denied mentioning Luís Gonçalves in the exchange with Henrique Monteiro in Arouca, but admitted to warning the official about the need to adjust his behavior on the bench in a preventive and educational manner.

Regarding the report from the FC Porto-Sp. Braga match and the expulsion of Henrique Monteiro, the referee stated that he did not directly hear the expressions allegedly addressed to him and that he acted on the advice of the 4th official, maintaining that the report reflects the information provided by the other members of the refereeing team, without any intentional alteration.

In addition to Henrique Monteiro and Fábio Veríssimo, the inquiry also heard from FC Porto’s refereeing advisor and trainer, Bertino Miranda, and the club’s operations director, Tiago Madureira. Assistant coaches Lino Godinho and Lucho González were listed as witnesses, but the investigator deemed their testimonies unnecessary.

Via videoconference, the Liga Portugal delegate at the match in Arouca, Tiago Almeida, as well as the 4th official and assistant referee from the FC Porto-Sp. Braga match, Gustavo Correia and Pedro Martins respectively, were also heard.

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