Villas-Boas scathing: “Varandas came to grandstand, FC Porto has proof” | OneFootball

André Villas-Boas strongly criticized Frederico Varandas, saying that the Sporting president came “to make a fool of himself” and was “forcing the minister to meet with both presidents in a case where FC Porto has irrefutable evidence,” referring to the controversy surrounding the handball clash between the two teams.

“I understand the frustrations of the Sporting president, especially when at his stadium there are fans throwing glass bottles at referees’ heads, players claiming that a referee is a thief… I understand the frustrations. When there are breaches of the League regulations to postpone a football match… I understand the attempts to change the narrative. Since there was a break for national team matches, Sporting wants to push the Tondela match case a little further down the line. He came here to make the fool of himself the way he did, which is regrettable throughout the League. He forced the minister to meet with both presidents in a case where FC Porto has irrefutable evidence. Once the case is closed, FC Porto will be relentless,” said the Porto president after the meeting with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, called in the wake of the incident at Dragão Arena, where the Lions complained of a strong smell that led players and the coach to require medical assistance. Even so, AVB counters: “There wasn’t even any hospitalization of Sporting personnel. Several people leave the dressing room and there are Sporting players making fun of the situation…”

Regarding this case, Villas-Boas expects everything to be dismissed and, after that, promises to take action against the Lions: “Once all the facts have been established, and this is dismissed, FC Porto will be relentless with Sporting regarding defamation, slander and attacks against its good name. Not only on Sporting’s part, but also on the part of some media commentators who went beyond freedom of expression.”

AVB also assured that Varandas apologized to him for having called him a “liar” and a “coward” after the clásico at Alvalade on March 4: “Do you think it is normal for the Sporting president to be so worked up after the match that he calls another president a coward and a liar? After a meeting we had, the Sporting president came to apologize to me. In front of the media, he is not capable of doing it. And the apology was accepted. It was at this last meeting, when we met with the president of the FPF about sports betting. He apologized to me. A result of his constant and inflammatory statements to the media. This was the last time we were face to face and spoke about the issue of revenues. I can do no more than my role.”

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