Referee Luís Godinho received death threats after the Portuguese Cup semi-final match between Sporting de Braga and FC Porto. A source from the Refereeing Council (CA) indicated that Luís Godinho and his family "received death threats all last night, right after the game in Braga" and that the police authorities were immediately warned and monitored Godinho’s trip back home. The referee will now collaborate with the authorities to try to find the perpetrators of the threats, while the CA will continue to monitor the whole situation closely.
Sporting de Braga and FC Porto drew 1-1 on Wednesday night, in the first leg of the Portuguese Cup Cup semi-finals, in a game in which the 'dragons' ended up with nine players. The game was marked by the serious injury of David Carmo that led to the expulsion of Luís Díaz (70), in a controversial decision by Luís Godinho, after viewing the images, which resulted in strong protests from Porto players. An attack by Uribe on Esgaio led to the expulsion of Uribe (90 + 7), so Porto ended the game reduced to nine. After the match, FC Porto president, Pinto da Costa, produced harsh criticisms of the refereeing team, led by Luís Godinho. "Regarding the messages I received during the game, asking for our team to leave the field of play due to what was going on, I want to ask all the members of FC Porto to remain calm because nobody bends us this way, as it has been happening in relation of the referees with FC Porto, which worked against us", he said in a statement without allowing any questions in the press room of the Municipal Stadium of Braga. Pinto da Costa said he wanted to "just talk about facts, not intentions" and recalled that the video assistant referee (VAR) of the game, Hugo Miguel, was the same as in the match FC Porto – Benfica, "when Taremi was shown a yellow card and then he intervened to ask for a red. But all the aggressions that existed in that game, which we have already shown and we will show again, did not call anyone’s attention. Today [Wednesday], he called the referee’s attention to a casual foul [between Luís Díaz and David Carmo that led to Braga's player injury], but did not call for much more dangerous fouls".
The threats to referee Luís Godinho and his family members are being treated "as something extremely serious", the Refereeing Council (CA) of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said. "The Arbitration Council was informed by the international referee Luís Godinho of the existence of threats, which were also made to family members, following the game this Wednesday night, in Braga", referring to the first leg of the semi-final of the Portuguese Cup Portugal, between Sporting de Braga and FC Porto (1-1). The CA also reveals that in the last few hours the telephone contacts of the referees have been made available on social networks again, considering that this is "an incitement to violence and an unbearable attack on the privacy and serenity of the referees". The organization condemns the threats and recalls that these "unfortunately, are not new to national football", leaving the desire for "the authorities to be able to intervene" and "bring those before them to justice. All clubs and sports agents must unite and repudiate, unequivocally and firmly, this type of threats. We are certain that this will happen", concludes the Refereeing Council.
Source: CMJornal
