THEndré Villas-Boas, president of FC Porto, made use of his usual opinion column and in the most recent edition of Revista Dragões, launched this Tuesday, launched a strong attack on rivals Sporting and Benfica.
Looking first at the lions, André Villas-Boas commented on the argument between Luís Montenegro and Frederico Varandas, regarding the Prime Minister having ‘called’ Sporting to Parliament. In this regard, the blue and white leader attacked the Leo president over his “big” salary bill.
“In the same tone, Frederico Varandas appears, who returned to his usual tirades of selective memory, in which Sporting and its President inhabit the Olympus of ethics and values, always immaculate and untouchable, going over the endless cases that involved his Club in the past. Following a joke from the Prime Minister, he put on his hat and found a new front, willing to mobilize the hosts of his club’s associations. club to influence the course of national politics. The president who promised not to talk about arbitration has now, in his 2026/27 version, become a political influencer. His associates will assess whether this new version of their president justifies the hefty remuneration they give him.
Moving on to Benfica, Villas-Boas returned to the Clásico with the Reds to address the Eagles’ complaints to referees, even speaking of a “Brown Cloak”.
“It is precisely this internal demand that seems to drive commentators attached to the “Brown Mantle” to despair. In the derby with Benfica, Samu’s contact on Bah’s back was promoted as a ‘barbaric aggression’, complete with a dramatic reconstruction worthy of cinema. Interestingly, last season, when a touch of a finger was enough to unbalance Hjulmand and sustain a decision in favor of Sporting, the sensitivity of the same guards was very different. The strength of the contacts is measured by shirt and indignation, due to the result. An absolute joke, created by those who cannot accept FC Porto’s victory without looking for an explanation that diminishes it, whatever the image or the angle. When football ruins their script, there is always a studio available to rewrite it”, continued the president of FC Porto.
“It is also touching to watch Benfica’s sudden passion for moves, images, angles and analyses, after more than a decade of broadcasting their games on BTV. Such demands for transparency deserved to start at home: that uncomfortable moves receive the same attention, the same angles and the same enthusiasm in repetitions as those that serve the narrative. Or is the freedom of execution an acquired right in Luz and a conspiracy when FC Porto wins? We are also loving the evolution of this communication of guerrilla: between the reformist Grupo Unum and what we could call APEC, the Association of Putatives or Ex-Candidates, the most hilarious theses about our Club are multiplying. They disagree about who should be in charge of Benfica, but they find a moving unity when it comes to explaining FC Porto’s successes by anything but their merit. The conclusion has been chosen; we just need to find an image that matches it. Let’s use Matinado eggs to bring us back to reality, because so much theory is only enough for an omelet”, he added.
Luciano Gonçalves, president of the FPF Arbitration Council, also did not escape the scrutiny of Villas-Boas, who insisted on the director’s “temporary suspension of duties”.
“While this was happening, the President of the Arbitration Council was on television defending his good name. A club was benefiting from a bad decision by the arbitration team and the sector’s top manager was divided between carrying out his role and defending himself on an open channel. But what normality is this? The right to defend one’s good name is unquestionable; what we have been contesting for a long time is that he does so whilst maintaining the full exercise of his duties. FC Porto has asked, and is asking, for a temporary suspension of the duties of the President of the Arbitration Council. Arbitration: the FPF Institution and the credibility of the competitions deserve it. But this measure was not taken and the climate of instability continues. Remaining in this situation is unsustainable and the passivity of the President of the Portuguese Football Federation and the President of the Club League further worsens the discredit.
