Pinto da Costa receives 35 days suspension for criticizing the refereeing at Estoril

In a statement, the professional section states that the 86-year-old leader was punished with more than a month’s punishment and a fine of 5,610 euros for “injury to honor and reputation and slanderous denunciation”, based on statements made at the end of the defeat of the team led by Sérgio Conceição in Amoreira (1-0), on March 30, for the 27th round.

Pinto da Costa accused the main referee António Nobre, from the Leiria association, of “not being able to referee” FC Porto’s visit to Estoril, the incidents of which led to the opening of participation for the ‘dragons’, who received a fine of 15,810 euros, and to the manager, equally critical of Tiago Martins, video referee (VAR) of that match.

António Nobre sent off goalkeeper Diogo Costa and striker Francisco Conceição, both from FC Porto, and Bernardo Vital, central defender of Estoril Praia, having applied this sanction after the final whistle to Luís Gonçalves, SAD administrator for the Blues and Whites. `.

About to end a series of 15 mandates and 42 years as the leader of FC Porto, after losing Saturday’s elections to André Villas-Boas, former coach of the ‘blue and white’ football team, Pinto da Costa could challenge the decision before the full Disciplinary Council of the Portuguese Football Federation, with this appeal having suspensive effects.

If the full body maintains the original decision, there is still the possibility of submitting a precautionary measure to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but, as the decision only concerns technical areas, it never calls into question the presence of the acting president in the blue and white. ` in the presidential tribune of the National Stadium, in Oeiras, where FC Porto will play the Portuguese Cup final against Sporting, the isolated leader of the I League, on May 26th.

This meeting ends the season of the ‘dragons’ and should mark the farewell of Pinto da Costa as president of SAD, around three weeks after the inauguration of the club’s new governing bodies, in a ceremony that was scheduled today for May 7th.

In view of the deadlines imposed by the Commercial Companies Code and the Securities Market Code, only after that moment can the leader of the General Assembly Board be asked to call a meeting for the investiture of the next SAD team, responsible for administration of Porto professional football.

José Lourenço Pinto has 15 days to schedule this event, but, even if he does it quickly, the 21-day minimum notice period for this session prevents the succession from being completed in good time before the final of the Portuguese Cup.

André Villas-Boas became the 34th president in the history of FC Porto, gaining 21,489 votes (80.28%) to prevail in Saturday’s elections for the club’s governing bodies, interrupting a series of 15 mandates and 42 years by Pinto da Costa, who gathered 5,224 (19.52%), while businessman and professor Nuno Lobo recorded just 53 (0.2%).

FC Porto’s most popular election ever saw the turnout of 26,876 members of the Estádio do Dragão, with 73 blank votes and 37 invalid votes.

The unprecedented election of André Villas-Boas, aged 46, implies the end of the presidential ‘reign’ of Pinto da Costa, aged 86, who had already commanded FC Porto since April 17, 1982, becoming, since then, the manager with the most titles and longevity in world football.