Following a series of recent incidents involving both the football and handball teams, Sporting Clube de Portugal has released a strongly worded statement directed at FC Porto.
– The successive actions carried out by FC Porto in recent times are absolutely repugnant, and we will urgently request a meeting with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, the club states on its website.
Sporting has issued a statement expressing clear and forceful criticism of FC Porto. The club claims that Porto has shown a continuous, conscious, and systematic pattern of disrespect, provocation, and attempted manipulation, and is now demanding that action be taken.
– It is essential that those who regulate sport in Portugal take a firm and uncompromising stance and punish those responsible with full severity, the club writes.
The background to the situation is a series of incidents. In the statement, Sporting mentions issues such as ball boys hiding balls, the alleged theft of goalkeepers’ towels during matches, and referees being put under pressure during football games.
However, the controversy is not limited to football. The latest incident involves the handball team, where the locker room assigned to Sporting was reportedly filled with an intense toxic smell that physically affected the players.
– Faced with this situation, Sporting CP expressed its opposition to holding the match, given that the team was without its coach and one of its players. Even so, it was formally informed that the necessary conditions were met for the game to be played, which is why it was forced to take to the field, doing so under protest.
Sporting is now calling for action to be taken against Porto.
– We will urgently request a meeting with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport. This is not regrettable – it is criminal.