Still on the Arouca match: FC Porto puzzled the issue wasn't raised in May | OneFootball

The controversy surrounding the Arouca-FC Porto match, part of the seventh round of the championship, is far from being resolved. With the calendar extremely overloaded due to the start of the Europa League, the Dragons have few dates available to reschedule the match and do not understand why the issue of the Harvest Festival – which takes place from the 25th to the 28th of this month – was not mentioned in May, during the meeting that the League held with clubs, municipalities, police, and civil protection. Therefore, FC Porto considers it unacceptable to be forced to change the date of a game due to an organizational failure for which they are not responsible.

The central problem is the lack of sufficient resources to ensure the minimum conditions required for a First League game. During the village festivities, the local resources will be focused on these events, leaving few available personnel. The Arouca City Council, Civil Protection, and security forces (police and firefighters) only raised this issue yesterday after a joint meeting, which forces the League to make a decision – always with the agreement of both clubs and the television broadcaster.

Moving the game to the same day but to another location, such as the Municipal Stadium of Aveiro, is legally possible, but it does not interest Arouca: according to the regulations, they would then have to host Benfica and Sporting there, meaning they would play away from home. Postponing to September 29, a Monday, would be feasible for Arouca, but FC Porto refuses because they would have only three days before facing Red Star in the Europa League, and another three days until the derby with Benfica, a schedule that would significantly wear out the team led by Farioli – particularly in a classic where the rival would have five days of preparation against the Dragons' three.

In summary, Arouca remains available to play on the initially scheduled date but may be forced to postpone due to the situation now raised by the municipality. The relationship between the club and the city council is far from peaceful: three years ago, during the village festivities, the club and the municipality clashed over the use of the stadium's parking lot. The municipality wanted to hold two concerts there, the "wolves" did not like the "imposition" and even put locks on the gates. The GNR was called, and the concerts had to be moved to another location. A month later, the council approved the termination of the stadium's lease to Arouca, for which they pay an annual fee of around eight thousand euros. Only in March of the following year did the parties reach an agreement, signing a new protocol for the use of the Municipal Stadium that includes a penalty clause of 50 thousand euros for any breaches.

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