Rui Costa boycotts FPF gala as Benfica protest over refereeing and TV rights | OneFootball

Rui Costa skipped the Portugal Football Globes, the FPF's gala, on Monday. According to Glorioso 1904, it was a symbolic protest over the clássico refereeing and Benfica's stance on centralising television rights.

Benfica were represented by vice-presidents Tomás Barroso and Mónica Sabrosa.

After the clássico at Estádio do Dragão, the Benfica president complained of a tremendous disparity in disciplinary standards by the team led by Miguel Nogueira. He said Porto committed numerous fouls that did not draw yellow cards, which strengthened one side and weakened the other, and that this was visible to all.

Unlike Sporting's Frederico Varandas and Porto's André Villas-Boas, Costa did not attend. The FPF is led by Pedro Proença.

Benfica are currently at odds with the other clubs and the Liga and are seeking to halt the plan. A petition to suspend and review the centralised audiovisual rights model will go before Parliament after surpassing 7,500 signatures.

At the venue entrance, André Villas-Boas questioned claims of a dual standard and cited an incident in Guimarães last season involving Sudakov and a Vitória player.

Source: Glorioso 1904

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