Portuguese coach Alexandre Santos, in an interview with Lusa on Monday, expressed regret over the lack of protection of refereeing teams in the Angolan football championship, given the physical and verbal aggression with which they are targets and violators are not punished.
The Portuguese coach, who gave Petro de Luanda his second successive Angolan title on Sunday, called on the Angolan Football Federation (FAF) to put an end to the intimidation of Angolan referees.
“What I most often pointed out is the lack of protection of the refereeing team in Hirabol, the constant pressure from the refereeing team under any circumstances, there is often a culture of who puts the most pressure, who intimidates the most, who claims the most, who is the most wins everything,” he said.
Alexander Santos reported that “referee teams are often verbally attacked and have already been physically attacked, but no one has been punished.”
“Several times after our goals there were stoppages of the game for 10 or 15 minutes due to the impossibility of continuing the game, because the teams did not want to continue the game and protested furiously and did not allow the game to resume, and in the end, no one was punished,” assured he is Lusu.
As for winning the second championship, the Portuguese coach said it was a feeling of “work done and rewarded” for the effort made throughout the season.
“All the dedication from the technical team, the medical team, the logistics team, Bruno Vicente as project coordinator, Joao Claudio who is the manager of our team, and then the entire Catetão structure and especially the players. again a great result. “We again dominate Angolan football and are worthy representatives of Angolan football on the African continent. We are very pleased with this second championship and we were, without a doubt, more stable than the main rival, August,” he assured. .
Santos stated the existence of several people, focusing on commentators who did not believe that his formation would regain the Angola Championship trophy.
“Some people thought we weren’t going to make it, and naturally, sometimes they didn’t give us the support the team deserved. We often feel this from many commentators and many people who gravitate towards football, but as a family we were very strong and we started with a very strong final point and we didn’t give our opponents a chance,” he said. .
The Portuguese coach ensured that he would continue to manage the two-time Angolan champions and realized that his contract would be extended despite recognition of the interest of several African clubs in signing him.
“African clubs have taken notice of our work. Luckily because it means we have shaped African football for the last two seasons and that is why African clubs look at Petr differently. to present my extension, we just thought that there are much more important things than this, but both Petro and I are focused on the next season, and we understand that it will be even more difficult, ”he said.
Petro de Luanda, who won the title a day after the end of the competition, thus remains the most titled team in Angolan football, having won 17 championships, two of which were under the command of Alexandre Santos.