FC Porto initiated three proceedings for contempt of the General Assembly

FC Porto has filed three lawsuits against its partners due to the disrespect revealed at the Extraordinary General Assembly (AG), the president of the financial and disciplinary council of the national runner-up football champion told Lusa this Saturday.

“The preliminary investigation has been completed, disciplinary proceedings have already been initiated. There were initially three of them. At the moment, deadlines are running out. Everything is in accordance. The further process continues normally, and I think that in 10-15 days everything will be closed,” explained Jorge Guimarães after almost two months after the suspension of work.

The discussion on the revision of the club’s statutes was headed by the main meeting on November 13, 2023, which at the last minute had to be “moved” from the hall of the Dragao Stadium to the Dragao Arena pavilion in Porto due to the large turnout of the partners.

The general team resumed the game late, but after some time several people left the blue-and-white sports ground due to incidents in the stands.

“There were no complaints [a nível particular] that this had come to the attention of the supervisory board and, presumably, management, who, if it had been so, would certainly have passed it on to me. There was no police involvement, and there were no hospitalizations of people who may have been the target of aggression or felt unwell, which was the reason for what happened in the AG,” he said.

The meeting was suspended on the same day by General Assembly Council (MAG) president José Lourenço Pinto, but was adjourned until November 20, but was canceled two days earlier as the club’s Supreme Council withdrew a legislative proposal currently under discussion. .

The day after the General Assembly, the management of FC Porto condemned the disrespect and assured that it would use “the means at its disposal to identify those responsible for the physical attacks”, mobilizing various corporate bodies to open disciplinary proceedings, while the Ministry of Public Health (MP) has launched an investigation into the incidents at the Dragao Arena.

“Management knows what is happening and knows that the case was brought after a thorough investigation. We have already reviewed the surveillance cameras and video support of the pavilion. There are several videos that have been widely circulated on social media and the print press itself has tried to publish some of them. It was on this basis that the preliminary investigation was closed and disciplinary measures were initiated,” explained Jorge Guimarães.

The Tax and Disciplinary Council initiated procedures within 30 days after the extraordinary GA and sent appropriate notices of guilt to the three defendants in the case, who have the opportunity to exercise their right to defense at the preliminary hearing.

According to the statutes of FC Porto, in third place in the first league, with 35 points, five points behind outstanding leader Sporting, the penalties applied by the body under the leadership of Jorge Guimarães range from a warning, reprimand, disqualification or even expulsion player.

“Consequences? The first person I will report this to is management itself. Now I can’t convey in advance situations that even management doesn’t know very well at the moment. In fact, they never asked me about it, otherwise I would have revealed the state of affairs,” concluded the director, who is among the candidacy of President Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa in the elections to the governing bodies of the club in 2020.