FC Porto President Villas-Boas demands public statements from FPF chief and refereeing head over officiating controversy

André Villas-Boas has stated that he will not allow the resignation of Duarte Gomes as technical director of refereeing—and the surrounding controversy—to be forgotten. The FC Porto president is calling for public statements from Pedro Proença, president of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), and Luciano Gonçalves, president of the FPF's Refereeing Council, to clarify the situation.

Speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony where he received the Medal of Merit from the city of Porto, Villas-Boas said:

"The resignation is serious, and the fact that the national team was busy with the World Cup does not absolve the gravity of the situation, particularly regarding the accusations that Duarte Gomes supposedly attributes to a manipulation of influence processes by Luciano Gonçalves, which I don't know if they are true or false. Then there is the protection of the honor and reputation of the president of the Refereeing Council, Luciano Gonçalves, concerning the accusations leveled against him, because the accusations are serious, just like Duarte Gomes' resignation. FC Porto warned about the dual management of the body and the disagreements we heard about behind the scenes between the national technical director of refereeing and the president of the Refereeing Council. The process is not over. We are all waiting for public statements from Luciano Gonçalves. The accusations are unsettling and should not correspond to a good start to the championship."

Villas-Boas also urged the FPF president to take a public stance:

"It would be appropriate for the president of the Portuguese Football Federation [Pedro Proença] to make a public decision on the case. The individual merit of João Pinheiro having been at the World Cup cannot be extended to the number of errors that occurred in the previous championship, and that is a greater responsibility of Duarte Gomes and Luciano Gonçalves, who have not yet explained how they allowed a championship so influenced by refereeing errors. I await and would like to hear from the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, now that the World Cup is over, and he can dedicate himself to this issue, because it is an independent and sovereign body, but it greatly reassures the course of the championships, and I think it would be fair for him to come forward publicly to make statements on this matter."