The South Central Administrative Court (TCA) has confirmed the punishment for sexual harassment handed down to football coach Miguel Afonso after the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) protested the World Youth Day (WYD) amnesty.
In an order to which the Lusa agency had access this Monday, TCA Sul indicates that it has granted the appeal filed by the FPF against the amnesty applied to the technician, who, on November 3, 2022, was punished with a suspension of 35 months and a fine of 5,100 euros by the Disciplinary Council (CD) of the FPF for “committing five very serious disciplinary violations” resulting from “discriminatory behavior on the basis of gender and/or sexual orientation.”
The 41-year-old coach challenged the verdict at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAD), which upheld the punishment, which dates back to the start of the 2020/21 season when he coached Rio Ave women’s team.
However, the punishment was eventually covered by an amnesty decree for the visit of Pope Francis to Portugal on the occasion of WYD, a decision that has now been reversed by the order of TCA Sul.
In the ruling, TCA Sul considers that at the time of the establishment of the facts, Miguel Afonso, born on January 16, 1982, “was 38 years old, therefore, he cannot benefit from the regime provided for” in the amnesty law, which covers young people from 16 to 30 years old.
The document also states that “it was the intention of the legislator, in the development and implementation of the Amnesty Law, to link the visit of a religious figure with a kind of pardon for minor conduct,” adding: “Society does not expect that, as a result of the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis, anyone who commits acts , qualified as crimes against freedom and sexual self-determination, provided for in Articles 163.9–176.9-B of the Criminal Code, are subject to amnesty.”
Miguel Afonso was the subject of complaints from Rio Ave players during the 2020/21 season, as reported by the newspaper Público, which gave way to other complaints against former coach Bonitos de Amorim (2019/20) and Ovarense (2021/22), and, later, Famalican. who dismissed him.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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