Rui Costa fined thousands, banned for Famalicão-Benfica ref rant | OneFootball

Rui Costa has been suspended for 45 days by the Disciplinary Board of the Portuguese Football Federation and was also ordered to pay a fine of 7,650 euros. The decision follows a complaint filed by the Portuguese Association of Football Referees, related to statements made by the Benfica president after Benfica’s draw against Famalicão (2-2) in the 32nd round of the Liga Portugal Betclic.

At issue were the criticisms directed at referee Gustavo Correia after the match. At the time, Rui Costa was highly critical of some decisions made by the officiating team and questioned the appointment of the referee for a match considered decisive in the standings.

"No one has the right to decide championships or standings except the players and the coaches. This man tried to decide part of it, in this case who goes to the Champions League. He tried to do the same in the first half of the season [Benfica 2-2 Casa Pia]. Strangely, six months went by, he was never appointed to another Benfica match, and then he appears here for the decisive stage of the fight for the Champions League," said the Eagles’ president on the occasion.

The Disciplinary Board ruled that Rui Costa committed an offense of "damage to honor and reputation and defamatory accusation". Even so, the disciplinary body reduced the initially foreseen punishment, granting the executive a "mitigating circumstance, reducing the suspension from 60 to 45 days for good conduct".

In the same ruling, Benfica was acquitted of the complaint filed by the APAF. The club from Luz had also been targeted because of a post published after the match against Famalicão, in which it ironically awarded the Man of the Match prize to the refereeing team led by Gustavo Correia.

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