Varandas cleared: Sporting chief avoids paying thousands of euros | OneFootball

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) annulled the punishment for Frederico Varandas, following the statements made by the President of Sporting last February on the Club's official channel, which had prompted a complaint from APAF to the Disciplinary Council of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF).

The issue was that the top official of the Alvalade Club considered that there were referees under pressure, using Tiago Martins as an example, who officiated the Famalicão - Porto match in the 13th round of the League in 2024/2025, and also the Nacional-Porto match in the 17th round.

The words in question were as follows: "I appeal to the referees regarding how they react to certain types of pressure. I give the example of Tiago Martins in the Famalicão - Porto match, where he made a decision to disallow a goal for Porto and awarded a penalty to Famalicão. It was a correct decision by Tiago Martins! Porto lost points and then we saw an 'old school' communication that we have seen many times and a meeting with the C.A was requested," began the President of the lions.

"I don't do that! There was a lot of noise and everyone was criticizing Tiago Martins... Then he officiated the Nacional - Porto match again and there was a challenge worthy of a red card, and Tiago Martins showed a yellow. The VAR called him, and Tiago Martins maintained the yellow. I have no doubt that he made the decision because he was under pressure. Tiago Martins must think that this way these clubs believe it's worth it and he is harming the lives of his colleagues because, whenever a big club loses, there comes the lengthy newsletter complaining and we don't get out of this," added Frederico Varandas, at the time (Recall the interview HERE).

The Disciplinary Council had assessed part of the interview by the President of the lions as a "slanderous accusation," affecting the “honor” and “reputation” of the referees; the Court accepts Frederico Varandas' defense and states that "it is unequivocal, in our view, that there is no potentially defamatory or gross content in the Claimant's statements," also annulling the 8,568 euros fine attached to the suspension.

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