Sporting: Varandas cleared after calling Pinto da Costa an active corrupter | OneFootball

The president of Sporting, Frederico Varandas, was acquitted once again, now by the Lisbon Court of Appeal, in a case brought against him for describing Pinto da Costa as an active corrupter, who was then the leader of FC Porto, and passed away on February 15, 2025.

This comment was made on March 5, 2022, and has now resulted in acquittal.

«(...) when the defendant refers to the assistant as an active corrupter, he does so considering a specific case in which the assistant was indicted and charged with the crime of active sports corruption», reads the ruling.

«The expressions used, despite the assistant not being convicted of any active corruption crime, are not subject to criminal protection, falling within the right to opinion and criticism», it adds and concludes: «In this specific situation, the expressions used are covered by freedom of expression.»

It should be noted that at the end of January, Frederico Varandas was also acquitted in another case for having described Pinto da Costa as a bandit.

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