THE Disciplinary Council of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) today archived the complaint filed by the Portuguese Association of Football Referees (APAF) against the coach of Estrela da Amadora, Pepa, absolving him of charges.
The ruling released by the FPF and later reproduced by the League considered “unfounded” the action taken by the body that represents Portuguese football referees following the statements made by the coach after the meeting between Estrela da Amadora and Rio Ave, at Estádio dos Arcos, in the sixth round of the I League, played on September 14th.
“The Disciplinary Council – Professional Section of the Portuguese Football Federation decides to judge the accusation as completely unfounded and, consequently, to absolve the defendant Pedro Miguel Marques da Costa Filipe of committing a disciplinary infraction under article 136.º nos. and its members), ex vi article 168, paragraphs 2 and 3 (Reference to the facts of directors and players), all from the RDLPFP”, can be read in the document made available.
In the aforementioned match, which ended with a draw between Vila Condenses and Amateurs (3-3), the coach spoke out vehemently against the decisions taken by the referee and VAR in the ‘flash interview’ that followed the match, characterizing the penalty awarded against his team, which resulted in the last goal of the match and condemning the final result as “surreal” and considering that “two points were taken away” from the Amateur club.
Based on these words, APAF understood that Pepa’s statements had called into question the seriousness and honor of the arbitration class, a position that the Disciplinary Board did not consider proven, thus moving towards the respective archiving.
