Montalegre coach José Manuel Viage has been suspended for a month and fined €510 by the Disciplinary Board (CD) of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) for “offensive statements of honor” in a Facebook post.
The non-professional section of the CD condemned coach José Manuel Viage “for the practice of disciplinary offense provided for and sanctioned” in the FPF Disciplinary Regulations, i.e. “offensive statements of honor in a publication made on the social network Facebook”. applying to him “therefore a sanction of suspension from work for a period of one month”, as well as “a sanction in the form of a fine of 510 euros”.
The case dates back to April 2022 and the game between Pevid and Montalegre in the second round of Ligue 3, a match that ended in the defeat of Tras os Montes (3-1).
According to the ruling, “on a date and time that cannot be specifically determined,” the coach made a post on his personal Facebook social media profile that included an image of “a bet that resulted in a penalty kick” in favor of the visitors, accompanied by a caption that he said he was ashamed of Portuguese football.
At the same time, the CD understood that “the defendant insulted the honor, respect and dignity of not only the members of the arbitration group, but also the FPF and violated the duties of correction and courtesy that he is obliged to fulfill,” the document says. judgment .
According to Lucio Miguel Correia, professor of sports law at the University of Lisbon Luciada, when “sports officials, clubs, referees or other sports agents” are at stake, posting on a social media platform “is likely to be considered a disciplinary offence.”
“As part of a disciplinary offense, CD may preemptively suspend coaches, provided that the suspension is justified in the context of incidents that may arise in the course of the process, questions of evidence or other issues,” he told Lusa.
The big difference in relation to the case of verbal abuse during the official game lies, in his words, “in the evidence”, which in this case are posts on the social network.
“In the event that this happens during the game, it will be the report of the delegate of the game, the report of the referee, or possibly the participation of the police or someone who saw these statements. A little indifferent,” he stressed.
According to Lucio Miguel Correia, the disciplinary proceedings with social media evidence are based on complaints to the FPF, in which “CD is obliged to act accordingly.”
Lucio Miguel Correia justified the “obvious inconsistency” regarding penalties with “different frames and sanctions” between the FPF disciplinary rules for amateur competitions and the Club League for professionals.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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