THE Disciplinary Council of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) announced, in the form of a statement issued through official platforms, late this Saturday morning, that FC Porto will have to pay more than 10,000 euros in fines, as a result of a series of incidents that occurred during the victory over Académico de Viseu, at Estádio do Dragão, by 1-0, which qualified them for the ‘final four’ of the League Cup.
The heaviest fine of all amounts to 3,190 euros, and is related to the “failure to comply with the duty to ensure compliance with all the rules and conditions of access and permanence of spectators in the sports venue, due to the failure to prevent the entry of pyrotechnic devices and stripes with dimensions greater than those legally permitted and/or with dimensions less than or equal to 1 mx 1 m”.
“During the game, fans belonging to the sports society visited, FC Porto, better identified by the color of their clothes, scarves and accessories, located in the East bleachers, sector 48, a place exclusively reserved and occupied by fans of this sports society (outside ZCEAP), displayed several stripes measuring more than 1m x 1m”, it can be read.
Another sanction, of 2,550 euros, concerns the “obstruction of emergency routes”, and a third, of 1,938 euros, the fact that the first part of the match started “four minutes late due to the pyrotechnic and light show, the responsibility” of the defending national champions. But there is more.
The management led by André Villas-Boas will also have to pay 1,910 euros due to the “use of explosive devices and pyrotechnics” by the fans, and 670 euros due to the chant “The League is shit”, sung by them. The ‘lightest’ sanction, amounting to 51 euros, derives from the yellow card shown by Sérgio Guelho to Chris Smalling, after 15 minutes.
On the other side of the ‘barricade’, the viriatos were ordered to pay three fines of 21 euros each, due to the cards shown to Gustavo Costa, Soufiane Messeguem and João Guilherme, at 39, 64 and 90+5 minutes, respectively.
What about other League Cup games?
From the League Cup, Benfica was also fined two fines, worth 51 euros each, due to the yellow cards shown by José Bessa to João Palhinha and Fredrik Aursnes, in the 67th and 77th minutes, respectively, of the 4-1 defeat against Gil Vicente. The Minho team were ordered to pay 29 euros due to the expulsion of Antonio Espigares, for hitting Rafa Silva “with his arm in the face, canceling out a clear scoring opportunity”.
Finally, Famalicão, who went to the Braga Municipal Stadium to eliminate Sporting de Braga, in the penalty shoot-out, will have to pay 58 euros, following the yellow cards shown by João Gonçalves to Georgios Koutsias and Gabriel Cabral. As for the ‘invoice’ for the arsenalists, it amounts to 204 euros, the result of cards from Gustaf Lagerbielke, Sergio Barcia, Pau Victor and Flinto Costa.
