Rival president slams Varandas: Sporting managed to convince... | OneFootball

Frederico Varandas was once again targeted by the words of André Villas-Boas, president of Porto. The top leader of the Lions was accused by his counterpart of being part of a "holy alliance" with Benfica, in an editorial signed by the blue and white president in the magazine Dragões – just a few days after a meeting that brought together the leaders of the big three.

The first topic that drew criticism was the issue of scheduling: "Incredibly, and against a 2-6 vote, FC Porto finds itself forced to play on Monday, December 15, with Estrela da Amadora, on Thursday, the 18th, with Famalicão for the Portuguese Cup, and again, on Monday, the 22nd, with Alverca."

"All normal, the reader might say, if it weren’t for the fact that Sporting managed to convince those present to get two additional days of rest beforehand, playing on Saturday, December 13, on Thursday the 18th for the Cup, and then gets another extra day of rest afterwards, since they only play again on Tuesday, the 23rd. This is the fairness promoted by the League after the famous episode with the scheduling of the game in Arouca. A way of acting where the same club is always harmed and where the holy alliances shamelessly reveal themselves. We might even see the Lisbon derby end with 3 points for each side," André Villas-Boas said, ironically.

Next, he addressed issues regarding refereeing: "We recently met with the President of the Portuguese Football Federation and the President of the Refereeing Council, reinforcing our request to quickly ensure greater uniformity in referees’ criteria, the implementation of professionalization in this sector, greater consistency in the application of meritocracy criteria in appointments for more complex matches and, again, correct operationalization of VAR technology, operating at its maximum capabilities, standardizing the number and quality of cameras in all Professional League stadiums."

"Without singling out anyone and always admitting that realities are dynamic and require continuous improvements and adaptations, our indignation takes on new proportions in the face of continued attempts to conceal what are clear weaknesses in the refereeing system in Portugal," concluded the Porto president, who once again criticized Sporting and their rival from the second ring road.

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