“Masses were games and priests were judges”: Adao Mendes confirms the meaning of codes used in emails. “Prime Minister” is an expression used to refer to Luis Philip Vieira.

“Masses were games, and priests were judges.” Adão Méndez, a former observer for the Portuguese Football Federation and the Club League, confirmed in court this Friday the meaning of the code names used in several emails that were eventually published on a program on Porto’s channel. Speaking of “working youth”, he clarified that we are talking about “young strata”. As for who the “prime minister” was, he cited memory lapses, but ended up admitting that it was Luis Filipe Vieira, the former president of Benfica. “In 1990, people were still saying that. I have great respect for the priests, I even go to mass almost every day,” he concluded.

Adão Méndez, called to testify in court for leaking Benfica emails, was exposed to the contents of several emails exchanged between Pedro Guerra and Paulo Gonçalves, Benfica’s former legal adviser. Regarding the statement “whoever harms us knows that he is punished”, Mendez admitted that he meant Benfica, revealing that Paulo Gonçalves even asked his opinion about which referees who were assistant candidates in League, most deserving of promotion. The witness also stated that he felt “robbed” and that the emails were altered and taken out of context when they were posted by Francisco J. Marquez, director of public relations for FC Porto and one of the defendants in the case. “Some of the things that were said were not written and others were not true. The order of the letters has been changed,” he explained.

At the same meeting, which took place at the Campus de Justiça in Lisbon, Mario Figueiredo, the former president of the League, was heard saying that the emails published in the program were “selected and intended to show that Benfica dominates the world . football.” An idea that for the former leader of the League is the opposite: “Dominated by Futebol Clube do Porto”.

DETAILS
“Erase Everything”
Adao Mendez also explained why he wrote the famous “delete everything” phrase in emails: “Maybe out of naivety. I’m not stupid enough to delete everything because I know it’s useless.”

Are you going to Mass?
“It was unfair that line inspectors didn’t know where they were going and I had to let them know even though it was confidential. They asked: on Sunday, where do you go to Mass? Mass in Braga?” said Adam.

Landim admits to being a partner
Carlos Landim, the lawyer who drafted the Media Regulatory Opinion that censored Porto Canal’s actions, admitted in court that he was a partner in Benfica and a “token” shareholder in the incarnation of SAD.

Calls Marquez a liar
During his court testimony, Adão Méndez accused Francisco J. Marquez of lying about statements he made about his son Renato. “Francisco J. Marquez said on television that my son [árbitro assistente] up, up, up… I felt overwhelmed by this lie because my son only made it to the third rung,” he said, adding that he “failed the first assistant referee test.”