The ‘blue and white’ club considers the change illegal and harmful to its preparation for the next European game. The League justifies the decision with security issues related to the Arouca Harvest Fair.
On the sidelines of a protocol for sports adapted with Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Porto and the Northern Rehabilitation Center, the Local Health Unit of Gaia and Espinho, FC Porto leader addressed various topics of the club and Portuguese football today.
Regarding the meeting of the seventh journey -initially scheduled for Sunday, but postponed to Monday -the ‘blue and white’ leader admits that the club can try, with this legal instrument, to suspend the holding of the match on the date it considers “illegal” in the light of regulations.
“For FC Porto, what happened is a break, an illegality and a different interpretation of the regulation of competitions. We are analyzing the possibilities of precautionary action, it is a consideration that we are taking, but also taking into account the unpredictability of the arbitration date of the sports court. If this providence is not effective we want to have, it can cause disorders in preparing the game with Arouca.”
The meeting was initially scheduled for Sunday, but coincides with the crop fair, an event that attracts thousands of visitors to that village of the Aveiro district, with the local authority and the Public Security Police (PSP) warns of security issues and requesting the reegandation of it.
Villas-Boas reinforced criticism of the LPFP that had already been directed by the ‘dragons’ in a statement, noting that the fact that the squad has only three days of space for the next meeting against the red star in the Europa League also harms Portuguese football as a whole.
“The short distance between the games, the lack of respect for the hours needed for a European game is something that reads FC Porto and, of course, the Portuguese position in the ranking coefficient of UEFA countries. It seems to us to be increasingly difficult to ambition sixth place and that we have our own seventh place at risk,” he said, but making it clear that ‘blue and white’ are committed to presenting themselves in “Maximum force” if the change is not verified.
The body ensures that the “absence of minimum safety conditions” notified constitutes a reason for force majeure and obeyed the prior procedures for auscultation of sports companies and public entities involved.
On Wednesday, LPFP reported the postponement of FC Porto’s visit to Arouca from September 28 to 29, for exchange with the game between Famalicão and Rio Ave, both from the seventh round of the championship, a scenario that motivated strong criticisms of ‘Dragões’ and Vila-Condenses.
