Sporting condemn FC Porto’s “repeated actions”, seek Government talks | OneFootball

Following the incident reported on the eve of the FC Porto-Sporting handball match at the Dragão Arena — with the Lisbon side denouncing “intense odors” in the away dressing room, something FC Porto denies — the club from Lisbon issued a statement.

Sporting begins by describing as “absolutely repugnant the successive actions that FC Porto has been carrying out in recent times.” It also announced that it will immediately request an urgent meeting with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Margarida Balseiro Lopes.

“It is not possible to continue witnessing this shameful, repeated and deliberate succession of behaviors without there being immediate and exemplary consequences. Sporting considers it imperative that all institutions responsible for overseeing sport promote sporting truth, and it is unacceptable that conduct of this nature — repeatedly carried out by the same parties — should shame and call into question the image of Portuguese sport internationally,” the Lions state.

Sporting speaks of the return of “dark practices from the past.” It recalls the images shown in referee Fábio Veríssimo’s dressing room, the ball boys case in the Clássico at the Dragão, and the theft of towels. “These episodes are neither isolated nor accidental,” it says.

The Lisbon club also maintains that the dressing room at the Dragão Arena had a “toxic and intense smell that affected the physical condition of players and staff of the handball team.” “This is not only regrettable, it is criminal,” it says.

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