Varandas fires back at Rui Costa, takes swipe at Benfica: "If I wanted..." | OneFootball

Frederico Varandas issued a statement pointing the finger at Benfica regarding the criticism of refereeing in Portugal. The President of Sporting wanted to respond to the communication made recently by Rui Costa and decided to go on the offensive, also pointing out alleged errors in favor of the red emblem.

"We understand the sensitive moment Benfica is going through in its electoral period and we respect that, but there are also limits, and it reaches a point where it is necessary to set the record straight. The rhetoric that has been going on for a few months is becoming too much, and saying a lie a thousand times does not make it true. I will restore the truth a thousand times. We are talking about facts," begins the statement from Frederico Varandas.

He then defended the refereeing in the Estoril - Sporting match and went on the offensive: "I will give an example the other way around: Estrela da Amadora-Benfica, penalty. AFS-Benfica, penalty as well, how was the contact? We can talk about Gil Vicente, contact in the 98th minute in the area, there football is for men and not for boys. Alverca-Benfica, Ríos, second yellow card? If I wanted to use the script, the modus operandi would be very easy."

"This year I told my players that the double championship was a slight upheaval for Portuguese football, something not seen in 70 years. This shook up a lot of things. If the triple championship happens, it will be an earthquake for Portuguese football. It is an earthquake. This scares a lot of people and I know there will be a lot of pressure, a lot of noise to prevent this from happening," Frederico Varandas also wrote.

The President of Sporting concluded with more criticism of Benfica: "No, I am not afraid. They cannot understand that this only fuels our players and our desire to win even more. We have been waiting 40 years for this, to be the target to beat. I'll give you some news: we like being in this position, we feel comfortable and we plan to stay here for a while longer."

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