The President of FC Porto, André Villas-Boas, was in Frankfurt on Tuesday to participate in the Men's Football Working Group, a meeting held as part of the work conducted by the European Football Clubs (EFC), the new name for the European Club Association (ECA), in what was a moment dedicated to strategic reflection on the future of professional football. As a member of UEFA's UCC Committee, Villas-Boas actively follows these issues, given that the topics discussed in the EFC Working Groups are subsequently taken for analysis and decision by the UEFA committee.

Among the central topics was the international calendar, where the need for more effective alignment between clubs and national federations in the process of calling up players to national teams was discussed, as well as proposals aimed at safeguarding athletes' right to rest and promoting a more balanced management of sporting seasons.

In the chapter on the Laws of the Game, several concerns were raised with David Elleray, former international referee and IFAB representative. Among them, the Porto President reinforced the decisive role that IFAB can play in raising UEFA's awareness of the importance of ensuring the uniformity of VAR and refereeing technologies - such as goal-line technology and automatic offside - in all European competitions and, ideally, in all countries in the Top 8 of the UEFA ranking. David Elleray said that there may soon be new developments and changes to the VAR protocol, allowing it to intervene in cases of obvious gross error. Measures to increase playing time, a growing concern on the international scene, were also discussed.

With this participation, FC Porto reinforces its commitment to positively influence the European debate, advocating solutions that protect players, promote competitive integrity and contribute to a fairer, more modern and sustainable football.