Villas-Boas on Luis Suárez ban: “Almost handily timed for opener” | OneFootball

In the editorial of the latest issue of Revista Dragões, published this Saturday and in which he took a swipe at Benfica, André Villas-Boas also commented on the one-match suspension handed to Sporting striker Luis Suárez following the theft gesture the Colombian made during the first leg of the Portuguese Cup semi-final against FC Porto, as well as the fact that the Disciplinary Board shelved the cases relating to the alleged assault by Luis Suárez on Jan Bednarek and by Hjulmand on Tiago Galletto, an AVS SAD player.

“On other fronts, the FPF Disciplinary Board decided to shelve the cases relating to the alleged assault by Luis Suárez on Bednarek and by Hjulmand on Tiago Galletto of AVS, after the different refereeing teams were heard on the matter in question, and confirmed that they had seen the incidents and that they did not warrant disciplinary action. None of this is surprising, just as the future introduction of the white card in the Professional Leagues, in Luis Suárez’s wake, is no surprise either, given that, in an attempt to win another penalty for Sporting, he quickly regretted it and apologized. What a shame Hjulmand did not have that dignity in the Azores. It did not take long for the mouthpieces serving the green mantle to lash out at the best Portuguese referee, in a clear attempt to soften the ‘theft’ gestures the player directed at referee Cláudio Pereira, who left Alvalade branded a thief and with a glass bottle to the head, and which earned the player just one (!) match suspension, almost conveniently lined up with the first game after the international break,” he wrote.

The postponement of Sporting’s match with Tondela also did not go unnoticed by the Porto president, who described the case as “one of the latest scandals shaking Liga Portugal”: “In another matter, but in line with events that inadvertently always seem to benefit the usual club, FC Porto asked the League for clarification on the rescheduling of Sporting CP-Tondela, one of the latest scandals shaking Liga Portugal, after Sporting and the League decided, unilaterally and outside the scope of the Permanent Calendars and Match Scheduling Committee, to postpone a match in an unexpected and unfounded manner, thus breaking the competition regulations. In this way, the match will be played outside its proper time, outside the first available date (1 April) and under sporting conditions radically different from those at the time when it should have been played, with the new date set for 29 April, on the assumption that the League’s wish to see a Portuguese team eliminated from the Champions League is fulfilled. Anyone who thinks the postponement was in accordance with the rules under the 72-hour law is mistaken. Then came the sly support for that lie. This is no longer just about violating sporting truth: it is directly influencing the final outcome of the championship, both in the fight for the podium and in the battle to avoid relegation.”

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