Bernardo Ribeiro: “André Villas-Boas reminded me of Pinto da Costa” | OneFootball

André Villas-Boas came out of the meetings with the Minister of Sport with his head held high – and even commentators least suspected of any sympathy for Porto acknowledged it. Bernardo Ribeiro, editor of Record, was one of them.

“He reminded me of Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, who truly had enormous ability, an unusual wit, and was very funny,” said the journalist, visibly surprised by the performance of the blue-and-white president.

Sporting accuses, Porto does not respond – but the evidence does not appear either

For Bernardo Ribeiro, the overall picture after the meetings is a draw due to a lack of substance. “There is a Sporting making accusations and an FC Porto that responds to almost nothing. That does not mean Sporting is right or that Porto is not,” he acknowledged, in a sentence that neatly sums up the weakness of Sporting’s accusations: a lot of noise, little certainty.

The journalist himself admitted that, regarding the alleged strong odors in the dressing room, he prefers to be cautious. “The versions are so scattered that I do not even dare,” he confessed – which says everything about the solidity of the case built by Sporting.

The only point on which the editor of Record remained unwavering was in defense of his own journalist, who allegedly smelled an odor in the dressing room. “I state here on television that it is a matter of honor, dignity, and the professionalism of Record’s journalism, which was present in the dressing room and will be defended to the very end. Let André Villas-Boas call whoever he wants.”

A declaration of faith in his reporter – but, it should be noted, that is not the same as saying FC Porto put anything at all in the opposing dressing room.

And it was precisely here that Bernardo Ribeiro made the most uncomfortable argument for the Lions. “There is a difference between Porto having done something and something having happened. We have had various incidents in sport that were not deliberately caused by anyone,” he said, dismantling the simplistic narrative Sporting has been trying to impose.

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