The Constitutional Court rejected the appeal of footballer Paligna as unfounded

The Constitutional Court (CC) has rejected an appeal brought by then-Sporting CP player João Palinha over his fifth yellow card of the 2020/21 season, saying it would open a “real Pandora’s box”.

In a ruling dated September 26, to which the Lusa agency had access this Thursday, the TC ruled that “when questions are at stake arising from the application of technical and disciplinary standards in relation to the conduct of sports competitions themselves, it is excluded from the jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and is therefore not subject to any judicial control.”

The Tax Code states that allowing “a decision of this type” to be overturned in an arbitration court would be “opening a real Pandora’s box.”

“This would mean referring the technical and sporting matter to referees who would hardly be qualified for that purpose (or who would be unlikely to be more qualified for that purpose than the referee of the game in question), and since this decision, even overturned, would always have an impact for the further development of the game,” he emphasizes.

The Constitution emphasizes that there is a rule that automatically applies a sanction to a player who has been shown five yellow cards consecutively and within the same sporting season.

“It is impossible to conclude that even in this case it is possible to open this box and seek in an arbitration court to establish whether all or any of these cards were issued improperly,” he explains.

Portuguese national team midfielder João Palinha was summarily suspended on January 27, 2021 after being cautioned in the match against Boavista (win 2:0), in the 15th round of the 2020/21 I League, playing with a full professional squad. The Disciplinary Council (CD) of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) found the player’s appeal to be unfounded.

The midfielder submitted a precautionary measure to the Central Administrative Court of the South (TCAS) to have the punishment suspended and was eventually used by Leonin coach Ruben Amorim in a 1-0 win over rivals Benfica. , in the derby of the 16th round of the I League of the 2020/21 season, from the 61st minute, after coming on the bench in the match played on February 1, 2021.

On 16 March, TAD overturned the automatic penalty play sanction but did not remove the yellow card, based on the admission of an error by referee Fabio Verissimo in admonishing a Leonina player who ended the season without complying with the said suspension.

The FPF then appealed to the TCAS, which unanimously accepted the appeal on October 7, considering the TAD’s “lack of jurisdiction to assess and decide whether a willful offense has been committed”, reversing the reversal of the penalty imposed by the FPF. FPF CD.

This decision was confirmed by the Supreme Administrative Court (STA) after an appeal filed by Palinha, which unanimously decided that this appellate body had no jurisdiction in this case, since the decision was based on rules of a technical or disciplinary nature arising from gambling laws, and disciplinary and competition provisions.

After the STA’s decision became known, the FPF CD clarified that João Palinha would remain unpunished because the “useful meaning” had been removed from the disciplinary measure.

Paligna then went to the Constitutional Court, questioning the constitutionality of the rule, and the now famous decision was unfavorable to him.

From 15 February 2021, CD FPF began to provide clubs and sports agents with the opportunity to defend themselves in a simplified manner.