The Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP) has called clubs to an urgent meeting on Wednesday to analyse a government proposal to address issues with new rules for foreigners, the organisation said on Tuesday.
The LPFP will present to League I and II clubs a set of rules aimed at mitigating the impact of the new immigration legislation, in particular the cessation of expressions of interest, which it believes “severely impacts on clubs’ ability to operate normally during a period of ongoing and limited player transfers.”
Since the law was published on June 3, the LPFP says it has been in contact with “various organisations with public responsibility in this matter to express concerns about the adverse effects of this change in terms of the speed of signing foreign players, but also to propose and request solutions that, without calling into question the assumptions recommended by the new law, would minimise the corresponding impact on the sector and on the clubs.”
In this context, last Thursday, the Deputy Secretaries of State of the Council of Ministers and Sports met with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the LFP and the federations of football, handball, basketball, speed skating and volleyball.
At that meeting, “Sport demanded that its specificity and freedom to develop its activities be respected, flexibly, in fair and loyal competition with other stakeholders, including international ones,” the LPFP now states, which believes that if the situation continues, “it will seriously damage the competitiveness and interests of Portuguese clubs.”
On the other hand, he guarantees that he will remain “fully and permanently prepared, together with the competent authorities, to find a solution that will protect the interests of all parties involved and the prestige of Portugal.”
On June 3, the government put an end to the expression of interest in the regularization of foreigners in Portugal, a legal resource that allowed for the normalization of processes for foreigners arriving in the country on a tourist visa.
In order to streamline their stay, the executive power led by Luis Montenegro intends for immigrants to begin the procedure at Portuguese consulates and embassies before arriving in Portugal.
Already on June 15, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) expressed concern about this legislative change and recalled that the registration period “lasts only 12 weeks in summer and four in winter”, calling for the use of “the exclusion regime already provided for”.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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