Villas-Boas' ideas: Teixeira open to changing competition format | OneFootball

The president of the League of Clubs, Reinaldo Teixeira, stated today that he felt “a lot of openness” from the sports societies participating in the Portuguese Primeira Liga regarding the possibility of revising the competition’s format.

“I would say that we have two [possible] competition models with more consensus, and one is the one mentioned today by the president of FC Porto, André Villas-Boas: to create more ‘classics’, more Vitória-Braga matches, in a model where the first phase of the championship is a single round, followed by a division of the teams. The other is the current model,” said the head of the body that governs professional football in Portugal, during his participation in the final panel on the third day of the Portugal Football Summit event.

Reinaldo Teixeira admitted that changes to the structure of the Primeira Liga could occur, but deferred any possible implementation to a meeting with all interested parties, scheduled for December.

“In the conversations we’ve had with the various sports societies, and we’ve already spoken with many, we’ve felt a lot of openness to this, but in December we will agree on this with the societies,” he revealed, highlighting the importance of fostering dialogue among the stakeholders, whose implementation he considers an achievable “challenge.”

“We have to understand each other. I think that’s the challenge that should bind us all, to take responsibility—how do we instill competitiveness, aggressiveness, within the regulations, to win during the 90 minutes of the match, but then realize that we are all business partners. I believe that this collective spirit is a great challenge and it is naturally up to the League and its president, also by dialoguing with each of the presidents of the various sports networks,” he added.

The League leader assumed the role of promoter of dialogue and assured that he will continue to encourage discussions for the sake of the stability of Portuguese football and convergence among all stakeholders.

“I believe in common sense to solve problems, that principle should guide us in life,” said the official responsible for professional competitions in Portugal, referring to the discord among the most influential clubs in national football, who have exchanged criticisms through their presidents.

Reinaldo Teixeira also considered it natural that there are divergent positions in competition between rivals and that this can even be healthy, as long as everyone assumes their responsibility as “business partners.”

“Contradiction helps us grow and, therefore, when something happens and we don’t like that it happened, we should think about what we could have done to prevent it, on our part; if it’s on the other side, what can I do so that it doesn’t happen again and the other recognizes that they didn’t do as well. That is the challenge of life,” he declared, expressing optimism about relevant topics such as the centralization of television rights for the 28/29 season in Portugal.

The Portugal Football Summit, organized by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), began on Wednesday and runs until Saturday at the Cidade do Futebol in Oeiras, with the aim of debating the future of sport at both national and international levels.

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