Sporting: Varandas cleared after calling Pinto da Costa an active corrupter | OneFootball

The president of Sporting, Frederico Varandas, has once again been acquitted, this time by the Lisbon Court of Appeal, in a case brought against him for having described Pinto da Costa, then leader of FC Porto, as an active corrupter. Pinto da Costa passed away on February 15, 2025.

The comment in question was made on March 5, 2022, and has now resulted in acquittal.

“(…) when the defendant states that the complainant is an active corrupter, he does so in reference to a specific case in which the complainant was a defendant and indicted for the crime of active sports corruption,” the ruling reads.

“The statements made, even though the complainant was not convicted of any crime of active corruption, are not subject to criminal protection, falling within the right to opinion and criticism,” it adds, concluding: “In this specific situation, the statements made are covered by freedom of expression.”

It should be recalled that, at the end of January, Frederico Varandas was also acquitted in another case for having described Pinto da Costa as a bandit.

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