Varandas hits Villas-Boas: “Will he call Apito Dourado a disgrace?” | OneFootball

Frederico Varandas decided to hit back at André Villas-Boas in the same tone. After hearing the FC Porto president say that he had received an apology from his Sporting counterpart at their latest meeting at the Portuguese Football Federation, the Sporting leader has now chosen to recall an episode as well.

“A year ago, we were in the middle of Liga elections, and the four presidents of Sporting, Benfica, FC Porto and SC Braga were there with one companion each – me, with Salgado Zenha; Rui Costa with Nuno Catarino; Villas-Boas with Pereira da Costa; and António Salvador with André Viana – at a meeting in a hotel in Gaia, to interview the candidates for the presidency, João Fonseca and Reinaldo Teixeira. When we interviewed the now president, Reinaldo Teixeira, Villas-Boas said: ‘One thing that is extremely important for us, FC Porto, is sporting integrity and legal cases. The Liga president must have an iron fist.’ Villas-Boas turned to Rui Costa and said: ‘This affects both of us. I have no problem saying that the Golden Whistle and the emails case are a disgrace, so I would like the Liga president to say that this cannot happen again.’ I now ask: is Villas-Boas also going to say publicly that the Golden Whistle is a disgrace?”, Frederico Varandas said.

The Sporting president’s remarks ended there, but before that, Varandas had already put into context the apology mentioned by Villas-Boas, after the meeting with Sports Minister Margarida Balseiro Lopes, following the controversy over the strong smell in the dressing room assigned to Sporting’s handball team at Dragão Arena.

“There was a meeting organized by Pedro Proença with the presidents of Sporting, FC Porto, Benfica and SC Braga. It was a positive, constructive meeting to talk about reforms. Proença also urged the clubs to act responsibly. As we were leaving, I even apologized for some excesses in the past, namely toward the FC Porto president. But that was before Sporting’s visit to the Dragão and before the handball team’s visit,” he said.

Lastly, Varandas stressed that his words are meant to defend the interests of the club he leads: “I noticed that many people are even saying that this is enough now between Sporting and FC Porto. Sporting did not start anything. One club attacked and the other was attacked. Sporting welcomes teams properly, does not play videos in the referees’ dressing rooms. It does not have opponents feeling unwell at the João Rocha Pavilion. I feel silence and inaction from those who run the sport. And is Sporting supposed to stay quiet? Then who defends Sporting?”

Varandas, Rui Patrício and Adrien Silva at the end of the Aurélio Pereira Tournament (Photo: A BOLA)

Frederico Varandas spoke at the University Stadium of Lisbon after the under-13 final of the first edition of the Aurélio Pereira Tournament, in which Betis beat Sporting 4-2. At the end of the match, Varandas, Rui Patrício and Adrien Silva, ambassadors of the tournament, paid tribute to Aurélio Pereira’s family – daughters Mafalda and Rute, grandsons Tomás and Filipe, and brother Carlos Pereira – by presenting them with a framed piece bearing the signatures of all the athletes who took part in the tournament. Afterwards, all the teams – Man. City, PSV, Betis, Real Madrid and Sporting – received participation trophies.

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