Benfica wants suspension of referees from the Cup final

Benfica demanded this Saturday the immediate suspension of the referees involved in the Portuguese Cup final, considering that “their continuation in office would be an insult to Portuguese football and its credibility”.

In a statement released a day after the Disciplinary Council (CD) of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) announced the punishments relating to the match, the 'encarnados' consider that “it is clear that the sporting truth was seriously adulterated in the final of the 2024/25 Portuguese Cup”.

“The content of the decision [of the ruling] confirms, unequivocally, that the errors committed by VAR Tiago Martins and AVAR Vasco Santos and Sérgio Jesus had a direct impact on the result of the match and jeopardized the integrity of the competition,” said the statement from Benfica, who lost the final against Sporting, 3-1, in a game that went into extra time.

Considering that "these errors deprived Benfica of a title that was theirs based on merit and strictly sporting performance", the Luz club "demands the immediate suspension of all the refereeing personnel involved in this colossal error of assessment and judgment".

"Anyone who displays such incompetence and lack of judgment cannot continue to play in professional matches. His continued role would be an insult to Portuguese football and its credibility," reads the document, published on the club's official website.

Benfica also reports that, with the support of its legal team, "it is already working on other actions within the scope of sports justice, both nationally and internationally, to ensure that this case does not go without exemplary consequences."

Finally, the Luz club "demands urgent clarification and accountability" for what happened in the Portuguese Cup final, played on May 25th at the National Stadium, and raises questions with several entities that oversee the sport.

On Friday, the FPF CD suspended Brazilian left-back Matheus Reis, of two-time national champion Sporting, for five games and also punished his teammates Zeno Debast and Geovany Quenda.

Matheus Reis was involved in a rather controversial incident with Andrea Belotti, then of Benfica, in which he allegedly stepped on the Italian's head in the final moments of regulation time in the Portuguese Cup final.