Former candidate for president of Benfica regrets decision of the Discipline Council of the Portuguese Football Federation to file the complaint made by the eagles concerning the Classic with FC Porto.
© Tânia Paulo / SL Benfica
14/11/2026
by
News to Minute c/Lusa
Jon Friday, Diogo Manteigas appealed to social networks to be critical of the decision of the Discipline Council of the Portuguese Football Federation to file the complaint filed by Benfica against the referees of the Classic against FC Porto, concerning the 7th day of the I League, in which the dragons won by 3-1.
The former candidate for the presidency of the eagles questioned the decision made by the disciplinary body and went further, accusing him of “provoking” the emblem of the Light.
João Diogo Manteigas started by quoting “Article 199(1) of the Portuguese Liga Discipline Regulation (RD), saying that its content is “explicit”.
“ The members of the arbitration team who adopt a passive or negligent attitude towards the incorrect and anti-sports behaviour of the members of the participating teams are punished with the suspension sanction to be fixed between the minimum of one and the maximum of five games ", first of all.
“ None of the bids of the participation video (in annex) was sufficient for the CD to consider the performance of the referees as “passive” or “negligent”. Not even the blood on the face of a target player of personalised persecution for 74 minutes ", vincou.
“ And as if this misapproach was not enough, the CD still provoked Sport Lisboa and Benfica with the following repair: the disagreement regarding the decisions of the arbitrators and the right to criticism regarding their performance “should not be exercised through disciplinary participations whose lack of foundation the participant knows or should not know about”, he added.
Finally, the lawyer also pointed the finger at what he says is an “institutional corporate solidarity” towards the arbitrators, remembering that the regulations predict the same disciplinary regime of players and leaders.
“What the CD knows (or should not be unaware) is the fundamental principle of the disciplinary process of Article 13(f) of the RD of Liga Portugal: there is only presumption of veracity of the facts related to the arbitrators if they result from their statements and reports. When they do not exist, it is OMISSION (not presumption). Arbitrators are subject to the same disciplinary regime as players, coaches and managers. Protectionism and institutional corporate solidarity must be combated. Both protect the predators and influence sports results ... as has been seen ", the former candidate for the Benfica presidency shot with irony to the mix.
What's in the CD decision?
The Council of Discipline considered that elements were not gathered to support any disciplinary infringement practice of the arbitrators, filing the records, without proceeding with the disciplinary process intended by Benfica.
In the judgment of the professional section, the FPF CD regrets the method of contesting the arbitration used, warning against the possibility of being harmed by the complainants.
“ None of this prevents the participant [Benfica] from disagreeing with the decisions made in the field by the arbitration team. This disagreement and the right of objective criticism of the performance of the arbitrators should not, however, be exercised through disciplinary participations whose lack of foundation the Participant knows or should not be unaware of, in order to subvert the normal exercise of the disciplinary sport action ", the disciplinary body led by Sandra Maria Oliveira e Silva.