Villas-Boas blasts Sporting: “At the Dragão, more pettiness” | OneFootball

Sporting once again came under fire from André Villas-Boas in the latest edition of Dragões magazine, released this Thursday. In the publication, the FC Porto president levels several accusations at the Alvalade club, touching on issues ranging from football to handball and referencing recent controversies.

“Some people keep trying to sell the idea that ‘if VAR had existed earlier’ they would have won more titles for their beloved club. It is a recurring and telling complaint. Telling because, with or without VAR, there was one reality those ‘wronged parties’ had to swallow: in their time, FC Porto won the European Cup, won the Champions League, won the UEFA Cup, won the Europa League and won the Intercontinental Cup twice! They were national champions, back-to-back champions, three-time champions, four-time champions, five-time champions. And that trauma, apparently, has not gone away. It itches. It bothers them. And that is why at the Dragão we witnessed yet another episode of that small-mindedness: the choice of a discreet entrance, through the back door, to avoid facing head-on the weight of FC Porto’s history. When history weighs heavily, some prefer not to face it. We live with it every day, because we built it ourselves with our sweat and the demanding standards that set us apart, something that for those people will always be unattainable, with or without VAR,” fired Villas-Boas, referring to the controversy ahead of the recent second-leg Taça de Portugal semi-final clássico, in which Sporting asked to access the dressing room via a different route than usual — FC Porto’s international trophies were on display in the main corridor.

“To that discomfort was added the FC Porto-Sporting episode in handball. And here I leave a clear message: FC Porto is absolutely calm and cooperating with the justice system,” AVB assures, adding: “It is well documented on everything that happened, what was done and what was not. And those involved who chose insult and the attempt to stain the institution will answer for it to the fullest extent. At FC Porto, defending the club is not an emotional reaction: it is a firm, grounded and documented position. And whoever chooses to attack the institution will have to pay the price for those choices. All of this got to the point where they were begging for urgent meetings at the highest political level. And when sport reaches this level of degradation, the country should understand the scale of the problem, or the inferiority complex of some people. What we then saw was the portrait of a strange time: scripts read off paper by a president so as not to miss the narrative of his communications advisers, and a communications machine permanently mobilised to manufacture perceptions, as if football were a studio and not a game,” fired the dragons’ leader, pointing at Frederico Varandas.

André Villas-Boas also spoke about a “phenomenon that has been taking place” this season: the distortion of public opinion. “But this phenomenon that has been taking place this season happens not only with FC Porto, but also with referees who, inadvertently, make mistakes against Sporting. On channels aligned with the green banner, referees are dissected in every one of their decisions, as if an error were a betrayal of the Lisbon club and as if public pressure were a legitimate tool to ‘correct’ the game. This, yes, seems to be the new ‘system’ of Portuguese football: shaping perceptions, shaping atmospheres, shaping decisions. Today it is the penalty episode, tomorrow it is the rebound, then the ‘pedagogical’ card, next the white card, and the truth of the game ends up held hostage to whichever way the script is blowing,” added the Porto president.

In closing, AVB came to the defence of Francesco Farioli and left a message of unity to the blue-and-white universe. “Added to this are countless personal and professional attacks on our coach, Francesco Farioli, by different pundits. Some without a journalist’s licence and merely commentators, others who do not even respect their own credentials and are journalists one moment and conveniently commentators the next, attack with hatred, foul language and insinuations that, in any minimally serious context, would be unacceptable. Farioli works, puts himself forward, leads, takes risks, takes responsibility. And precisely because of that, he becomes a target. But let me make this very clear: FC Porto protects its own. And it protects them firmly, because here, ‘in the North’, our own are untouchable. But the focus is on what matters. The championship is here. The final step is here. So close and so far at the same time. And the response must be the same as always: focus, unity and work. No celebration. No distractions. No noise, but with the need for all your strength. I’m counting on you,” Villas-Boas concluded.

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