Villas-Boas: One day the Lisbon derby will end with 3 points each | OneFootball

André Villas-Boas vehemently accused the opponents and Liga Portugal regarding the scheduling, arguing that FC Porto was disadvantaged. The president of the dragons recalled the match in Arouca to justify his outrage. All this and more can be read in his opinion article in the Dragões magazine titled: “Stronger than the traps”

“Incredibly, and against a 2-6 vote, FC Porto is forced to play on Monday, December 15, with Estrela da Amadora, on Thursday, December 18, with FC Famalicão for the Portuguese Cup, and again on Monday, December 22, with Alverca. Everything seems normal, the reader might say, if it weren't for the fact that Sporting managed to convince the others present to have two additional days of rest before: they play on Saturday, December 13, on Thursday, December 18 for the Cup, and receive another additional day of rest afterward, as they only play again on Tuesday, December 23. This is the equity promoted by the League after the famous episode with the scheduling of the game in Arouca. A way of acting where the same club is always disadvantaged and where the holy alliances are shamelessly revealed. We might even see the Lisbon derby end with 3 points for each,” said the leader of the dragons, understanding that this is “another episode that clearly reflects the alignment waves trying to divert” FC Porto from its “path.”

Read the full opinion article:

“FC Porto faces a demanding moment, but also full of opportunities to reinforce its position as a major reference in sports and Portuguese football, in particular. We approach the future maintaining the conviction that continuous work, associated with a rigorous and realistic strategy of the Club, will lead us to new cycles of success.

One of our most ambitious structural projects is the construction of the High-Performance Center (CAR) in Olival, a fundamental investment for the future of FC Porto, long desired, recognized for its strategic importance. This infrastructure, adjacent to the Jorge Costa Training and Sports Development Center, will occupy about 31 hectares, include five training fields, a hotel/residence to serve professional athletes, a mini-stadium, and other excellent support facilities, adapted for high-competition training and the integral development of the main teams' athletes, in an environment that allows them to evolve technically and humanly, immersed in the values of a top world club. We count on the decisive support of the community that welcomes us, led by a new municipal executive, with whom we recently met, who also believes that this infrastructure is fundamental for the social sports growth of the Vila Nova de Gaia municipality and for further development of the Olival parish.

Simultaneously, in Campanhã, we will proceed with the launch of the construction of the new pavilion, which will be installed on the grounds of the now deactivated Escola Ramalho Ortigão, granted for 70 years by the Porto City Council. A historic step towards valuing our eclecticism. This multi-sport pavilion will be a crucial space for the development of an integrated sports hub for the club's modalities and its training, allowing us to adequately respond to the growing needs of our teams and support the expansion of women's sports and other modalities, such as futsal, which took its first steps this season. It is also a source of great pride the institutional collaboration we have maintained with the Porto City Council, a committed and responsible partner in supporting this project, contributing to the dynamization and enhancement of sports in the city.

These works reflect not only our sporting ambition but also FC Porto's commitment to the social, cultural, and economic development of the regions where it operates, continuously giving meaning to the Public Utility Status that the Portuguese State recognized almost 100 years ago, in 1928, which continues to be honored and the distinctions of Honorary Member of the Order of Infante D. Henrique and Honorary Member of the Order of Merit, which we later received for the undeniable relevance we have played in the development of the country and the connection to our diaspora.

In this line, the FC Porto Houses, in Portugal and worldwide, which, through the entrepreneurship of their members, make a difference in their communities, have been decisive in the growth of our membership base due to the dynamics they imprint in these regions at an associative, sports, and social level. Recently, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the FC Porto House in Vale de Cambra, a historic milestone for the Vale de Cambra Porto fans, an example of dynamism, in a land that has already given us many athletes and in which we distinguished the late Rui Filipe.

To conclude, I could not fail to say a few words about the recent events that have marked national football. Events that have led us to take tough positions, both publicly and with the agents and instances responsible for ensuring that the football industry in our country operates within high and demanding standards.

In this sense, we recently met with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation and the president of the Arbitration Council, reinforcing our request to quickly ensure greater uniformity of referee criteria, the implementation of the professionalization of this sector, greater coherence in the application of meritocracy criteria in appointments for games of greater complexity, and again, a correct operationalization of the VAR technology functionalities, operating at the maximum of its functionalities, standardizing the number and quality of cameras, in all stadiums of the Professional Leagues. Without particularizing and always admitting that realities are dynamic and need continuous improvements and adaptations, our indignation takes other proportions in the face of continued attempts to disguise what are evident weaknesses of the arbitration system in Portugal.

Curiously, these weaknesses go unnoticed by the “analysts” of arbitration who daily mark presence in different media, where they only dedicate themselves to performing authentic brainwashing of public opinion. What is evident to the eyes of any neutral football fan, too often gains new and miraculous interpretations in the eyes of 'specialists' who seem to have shamelessly lost their shame. The “interpretations of the regulations” and the “approaches and criteria” surpass the “decision support technologies,” making, in the most recent analyses, the jargon of the moment expressions like “English-style arbitration,” “play in the gray area,” “borderline line,” and “orange yellows,” always benefiting plays where our most direct rivals are inadvertently favored.

To all this is added another episode that clearly reflects the alignment waves trying to divert us from our path. Incredibly, and against a 2-6 vote, FC Porto is forced to play on Monday, December 15, with Estrela da Amadora, on Thursday, December 18, with FC Famalicão for the Portuguese Cup, and again on Monday, December 22, with Alverca. Everything seems normal, the reader might say, if it weren't for the fact that Sporting managed to convince the others present to have two additional days of rest before, they play on Saturday, December 13, on Thursday, December 18 for the Cup, and receive another additional day of rest afterward, as they only play again on Tuesday, December 23. This is the equity promoted by the League after the famous episode with the scheduling of the game in Arouca. A way of acting where the same club is always disadvantaged and where the holy alliances are shamelessly revealed. We might even see the Lisbon derby end with 3 points for each.

It is for these reasons and others that the work, dedication, and effort of FC Porto must always be superior to others and, in this field, our team has been unsurpassed: we completed a victorious cycle in November and are already fully focused on the crucial cycle of December. We couldn't be prouder of this team and the support they have felt from our Members and fans, to whom we are very grateful.

We walk strong with the focus on the title knowing in advance that the traps will be many”

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