Villas-Boas: “Unholy alliances on Segunda Circular target Porto…” | OneFootball

In the editorial published in Dragões magazine, André Villas-Boas states that, in the face of any challenge or adversity, FC Porto will remain true to the principles of loyalty, determination, and high standards.

“As our coach, Farioli, so aptly said in his native language, we are a famiglia. The Portista family. It is in this granite-like unity that our difference lies. We will not allow threats, insinuations, or media pressures, or any other kind, to affect our purpose of winning. Let us face challenges with the determination that our History deserves and the future demands of us. If determination is our hallmark, high standards are our daily method,” he summarized.

In the face of increasing financial pressures, ever more complex regulation, and risks to sporting integrity, Villas-Boas argues that FC Porto must take a leading role in the discussion of structural issues – among them the centralization of audiovisual rights, the fight against piracy, financial sustainability, transparency in management, and the defense of fair competition. The president also emphasizes the need to combat practices such as the trafficking of underage players, multi-ownership, and the influx of capital of dubious origin into Portuguese football, and warns against the “holy alliances” on the second ring road that seek to weaken FC Porto and its values.

“Football is at a crossroads full of challenges that even call into question, in several aspects, its integrity. We are witnessing movements that seek to impose environments susceptible to illegitimate interests, distorting the truth of competition. To the interests of investors of dubious origin, who insist on trying to force their way into Portuguese football, and the fog that hangs over sports betting by direct participants in the game, as we recently saw in the NBA and Turkish football, is added a national partisanship that is allowing centralism to take hold ever more shamelessly, whether by means of a saturated media system that pollutes more than it clarifies, or through holy alliances on the second ring road that aim to weaken FC Porto, its values, and principles. The centralization of audiovisual rights, the inability of structures linked to the organization of competitions and refereeing to consistently uphold sporting integrity, the trafficking of underage players, club multi-ownership, or the origin of dubious capital in sports corporations are issues and fronts where we must remain vigilant and active,” he summarized.

Villas-Boas highlights the importance of a sustainable management model and points to the club’s path as an example. The Dragon Notes operation and financial rigor, which he says are already being imitated by other clubs – including “the rivals” – prove that it is possible to reconcile sporting success with economic solidity: “Our management case study is our best weapon. We were pioneers and today, in a renewed way, we show that financial success and rigorous accounting are not antagonistic vectors, but an obligation. The Dragon Notes operation is now being copied by our biggest rivals. FC Porto is proud to have placed the name of the Portuguese football industry alongside major partners in international banking, with vision and scope in the restructuring and strengthening of Sports Corporations. In debates on structural reforms, we will insist that the future of football lies in more transparent management practices, compliance with Financial Fair Play, and the defense of the integrity of competitions, and not in chronic indebtedness or the creation of privileged structures, which go against healthy competition and the values of sport.”

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