There is already a referee for FC Porto-Sporting – I Liga

Referee Nuno Almeida was appointed to direct FC Porto’s reception of leader Sporting, on Sunday, in the 31st round of the I League, the Arbitration Council (CA) of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) announced today.

The Algarve Football Association referee will be assisted by Pedro Felisberto and Hugo Ribeiro, while Artur Soares Dias will be the video referee (VAR). Miguel Nogueira will be the fourth referee and João Bessa Silva will be the VAR assistant.

This will be the sixth meeting that Nuno Almeida referees between ‘lions’ and ‘dragons’ and the second this season, after having been involved in Sporting’s 2-0 home victory, in the first round of the I League, in a match in which Pepe, from FC Porto, was sent off.

In the two matches refereed by the Algarve at FC Porto’s home, the ‘dragons’ emerged victorious, at the start of the 2022/23 I League, by 3-0, and in the second leg of the 2021/22 Portuguese Cup semi-finals, by 1-0.

The other two classics between the two teams led by Nuno Almeida ended in draws, one goal in the 2021/22 I League and zero in the 2017/18 League Cup semi-final, in which the ‘lions’ triumphed in the penalty shootout.

Nuno Almeida, 48 years old, arrives at the 31st round classic after having been at the controversial reception of Desportivo de Chaves to Estoril Praia, which was interrupted after the invasion of the field by some fans from Flava, which resulted in the expulsion of two ‘canary’ players, for attacking spectators.

Sporting leads the championship with 80 points, 18 more than FC Porto, and visits the Estádio do Dragão on Sunday, in a match scheduled to start at 8:30 pm, a day after Benfica, second, with 73, receives Sporting de Braga, fourth, on par with the ‘blues and whites’.

At Estádio da Luz, at 6pm on Saturday, João Pinheiro, from the Braga association, will referee the meeting between ‘eagles’ and ‘arsenalistas’, with Hugo Miguel as VAR.

See the nominations:

Gil Vicente FC-FC Arouca
Referee: Gustavo Correia
Assistants: Inácio Pereira and Luís Costa
4th referee: Márcio Torres
VAR: Rui Costa
AVAR: Nuno Manso

Casa Pia AC-GD Chaves
Referee: João Gonçalves
Assistants: João Bessa Silva and Ângelo Carneiro
4th referee: João Afonso
VAR: Bruno Esteves
AVAR: Pedro Mota

FC Vizela-Rio Ave FC
Referee: Hélder Malheiro
Assistants: Hugo Coimbra and Diogo Pereira
4th referee: Gonçalo Neves
VAR: Rui Oliveira
AVAR: Pedro Ribeiro

SL Benfica-SC Braga
Referee: João Pinheiro
Assistants: Bruno Jesus and Luciano Maia
4th referee: Carlos Macedo
VAR: Hugo Miguel
AVAR: André Campos

Vitória SC-Boavista FC
Referee: Luís Godinho
Assistants: Rui Teixeira and Gonçalo Freire
4th referee: José Bessa
VAR: Vasco Santos
AVAR: Paulo Soares

Portimonense SC-Moreirense FC
Referee: Cláudio Pereira
Assistants: Tiago Costa and André Almeida
4th referee: Miguel Fonseca
VAR: Fábio Melo
AVAR: Sérgio Jesus

Estoril Praia-FC Famalicão
Referee: Manuel Oliveira
Assistants: Carlos Campos and Hugo Santos
4th referee: Vítor Ferreira
VAR: André Narciso
AVAR: Vasco Marques

FC Porto-Sporting CP
Referee: Nuno Almeida
Assistants: Pedro Felisberto and Hugo Ribeiro
4th referee: Miguel Nogueira
VAR: Artur Soares Dias
AVAR: João Bessa Silva

CF Estrela-SC Farense
Referee: Fábio Veríssimo
Assistants: Pedro Martins and Hugo Marques
4th referee: Pedro Ramalho
VAR: Tiago Martins
AVAR: Inês Andrada

*Updated article