Criticism rains down on Uefa following Porto decision

Club to fight ban; Madail accuses Uefa of double standards

Following yesterday’s shock news of FC Porto’s expulsion from next season’s Champions League, everyone wanted to express their opinion about the case, with the Portuguese champions receiving strong backing to fight the ban.

Pinto da Costa, the Porto president at the centre of the corruption charges, said the club will appeal against the decision and he believes the team will not be out of European competition next year, adding that he has received tremendous support from all quarters.

Questioned about the players’ situation he commented that some of them have already told him they will not leave the team, even if they do not compete in the Champions League.

Costa insisted that the only player that may be sold would be Ricardo Quaresma, and only if a club is prepared to meet the 40m euro buyout clause. The Portugal winger had expressed his desire to move abroad even before yesterday’s Uefa decision.

The president ended his interview on prime-time Portuguese television news last night by refuting the notion that the northern club’s domination of the domestic game is linked to any wrongdoing. “Porto win on the pitch because they are better than the others – simple as that,” he said.

Madail accuses Uefa of double standards

Portuguese Football Federation president, Gilberto Madail, said he was surprised and disappointed with the Uefa decision.

“I am surprised with the decision because Uefa had similar cases in the past, such as in Italy, and the decision was different. They say that in Italy there was no corruption involving referees but there was player corruption which for me is the same thing.”

Artur Jorge, the former Porto coach who led the Dragons to their first European Cup triumph in 1987 said “Some people are happy with this outcome; there are some people involved in this matter that want to put Porto down but this is far from the end of this case.”

Former players Fernando Gomes, part of the 1987 winning squad, and Paulo Ferreira, who lifted the Champions League in 2004 with the Dragons, both said that they believe Porto have people working on the case capable of solving the problem.

Should the decision be upheld, Guimaraes will go directly into the Champions league group stage, but club president, Emilio Macedo, lamented the decision. “It is bad for Portuguese football. But for our team will be a historic moment in terms of sporting achievement, and the financial side without a doubt will be a boost, but we will not change our plans for next season one iota. We’re building a long-term project.”

Benfica, who with this decision will enter into the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League instead of the UEFA Cup, were also cautious in their reaction, saying they will wait for the final decision but nothing will change in terms of team preparation for the next season.

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