João Gabriel attacks refereeing and Rui Costa after Braga draw | OneFootball

According to Glorioso 1904, João Gabriel used LinkedIn to deliver a scathing assessment of refereeing and Rui Costa’s leadership after Benfica’s 2-2 draw with Braga.

The club’s former communications chief targeted match official João Pinheiro and argued referees no longer respect the laws or Benfica, saying the club has lost strength, influence, capacity to exert pressure and leadership.

He said the damage to Champions League hopes and the title was done long ago, arguing Benfica forgot that in Portugal trophies are also won institutionally and ceded power to people aligned with two other major clubs.

In his view, when a club loses weight in the game it soon stops being feared and is treated like a secondary actor. He said Rui Costa never understood this.

He dismissed table thumping as futile, saying leadership is making authority felt before any show of force. He added Rui Costa is not taken seriously in the corridors of Portuguese football, including the federation, the league and among referees.

He warned this is fatal for the head of the country’s biggest club, and concluded that while a president can lose games, he cannot lose influence, respect or the ability to protect the club, which he believes Rui Costa has lost.

Source: Glorioso 1904