FC Porto threaten court action to delay trip to Arouca | OneFootball

The national football scene is in turmoil after Liga Portugal decided to move the seventh round match between Arouca and FC Porto from Sunday to Monday, due to the Harvest Festival scheduled for next weekend in the town of Arouca.

The Municipal Council and local authorities anticipate the presence of thousands of people at the event, as is usually the case, and believe there are no safety conditions to hold the match at the same time, so they advised against keeping the original date.

According to the newspaper O Jogo, the crux of the controversy lies in the fact that this incompatibility was not communicated to the entity chaired by Reinaldo Teixeira before the draw for the 2025/26 season, held in early July, a circumstance that could have led to FC Porto playing away in this round.

This is a "mess" that has caused strong indignation in the management led by André Villas-Boas, which, according to the same publication, is seriously considering filing a precautionary measure in the courts to request the postponement of the match to a later date.

This factor is also one of the reasons why tickets have not yet been put on sale, despite the Arouca–FC Porto match being scheduled for 20:00 (Portugal mainland time) next Monday, at the Arouca Municipal Stadium.

The blues and whites mainly contest the fact that the decision was made unilaterally by Liga Portugal and that Arouca did not show willingness to accept a postponement of the match, for example to October 30.

In addition, playing the match on Monday puts FC Porto in a demanding cycle of three matches in just seven days: Arouca (September 29, at the Arouca Municipal Stadium), Red Star (October 2, at the Dragão Stadium) and Benfica (October 5, also at the Dragão Stadium), immediately before the break for international commitments.

This context strengthens the arguments of the dragons' legal department, which last week reported that clause number 1 of Article 46 of the Competitions Regulations was not being observed with the current schedule.

"The scheduling, within 30 hours following the initial established date, does not apply in situations where one of the clubs involved has to play an official UEFA competitions match the following week, in which case the match will be held, or completed, on a date to be established, by agreement between the clubs or, in the absence of agreement, Liga Portugal will decide the date and time of the match," they stated.

It is certain that, before the reception to Arouca, the team led by Italian coach Francesco Farioli has a meeting with Salzburg in the opening round of the Europa League group stage, at 20:00 next Thursday, at the Red Bull Arena, in Austria.

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