Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP) President Pedro Proenza said on Monday that the trial, involving Mario Costa, the organization’s former General Assembly Council (MAG) chairman, “is a matter for the police.”
Pedro Proenza, speaking at the regular General Assembly in Porto to vote on the action plan and budget for the 2023-2024 season, mentioned the alleged involvement of Mario Costa in the human trafficking scheme.
“As long as I am president of Liga Portugal, this moment will never happen again,” Pedro Proenza assured in statements released on the LPFP website, ensuring that no member of the organization he leads was aware of the BSports academy and its involvement. with Mario Costa.
In addition, the president of the LPFP also underlined the speed of the process that led to the resignation of Mario Costa, who in the meantime was replaced as president of MAG by José Gómez Méndez.
“Therefore, I never had any doubts from the first minute: Mario Costa should have resigned immediately as Chairman of the Board of the General Assembly. And that has been my only concern since that Monday morning,” he said.
Pedro Proenza added that over the next two days he tried to convey to Mário Costa the fact that “his immediate resignation was the only way to protect the interests, reputation and authority of the League of Portugal”.
“And given the delay in public position, I have scheduled an emergency meeting with the presidents of the three governing bodies of the League and the Supervisory Board – in connection with the abandonment of our mandates, if Mario Costa does not resign immediately,” he added.
Pedro Proenza said that “just like that, just 48 hours after the first news, Mario Costa resigned as chairman of the board of the General Assembly.” This is an investigation carried out by the Foreigners and Border Guards Service (SEF) against Mario Costa and the football academy with which he is associated, in Riba d’Ava, Famalicán municipality, Braga district, on suspicion of human trafficking.
On June 17, Porto’s regional prosecutor general clarified that 33 minors had been expelled from the football academy, while the rest of the adults had been sent to shelters.
In a note published on her page, the prosecutor’s office said that the minors were seized after a clearly worded intervention by the competent authorities and “because they were in a dangerous situation.”
According to an SEF source, 114 players from South America, Africa and Asia have been identified, and all of them are illegal in the country.