FC Porto on Arouca clash: “A political move to take away a rest day” | OneFootball

«A sad episode that shames Portuguese football». This is how FC Porto reacts to the postponement of the match against Arouca, related to the seventh round of the League, rescheduled for September 29th – one day after the initially set date – which will force Francesco Farioli's team to play three matches in seven days, ending with the classic against Benfica on October 5th.

In a harsh statement, the Dragons recall that the Arouca Harvest Festival, whose impact motivated the new schedule, «takes place annually in that municipality in September», and lament that «neither Liga Portugal, FC Arouca, CM Arouca nor the prevention and security authorities were able to foresee in advance – before the Liga Portugal draw held on July 4th – the impossibility of FC Arouca playing home games on the weekend» of the festivities.

With the schedule tightening due to participation in the Europa League, FC Porto proposed postponing the clash to October 30th, but Arouca refused the suggestion and, according to the Dragons' statement, scheduled the game «unilaterally» for September 29th, a date that the League eventually made official.

FC Porto also finds it strange that «To ensure the scheduling of the match on this date at any cost, Liga Portugal set 8:00 PM as the start time – a time not provided for in the regulations», and directs criticism at the president of the body responsible for professional competitions.

«On September 10th, the president of Liga Portugal, Reinaldo Teixeira, pompously announced the Meta 2028 project, which aims to present «a set of measures to promote the rise to sixth place in the UEFA ranking». Seven days later, Reinaldo Teixeira and the respective Executive Board made the political decision to take away a day of rest from FC Porto before a European game», note the Porto officials, who add: «Perhaps the concerns expressed by FC Porto during the League's electoral period help to understand this stance».

The rescheduling of Arouca-FC Porto, initially set for September 28th, will make the Dragons play three matches in seven days: Arouca (September 29th), Red Star (October 2nd), and Benfica (October 5th).

For FC Porto, «The lack of planning in defining the sports calendar and the inability of Liga Portugal to find a solution for this episode demonstrate an unacceptable unpreparedness that harms professional clubs and Portugal's coefficient in the UEFA ranking, in a decisive period for the future of Portuguese football and where the much-desired surpassing of the Netherlands seems less likely than losing a place to Belgium», concludes the club.

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