One of the striking images from the most recent Sporting Libon-FC Porto match is Luis Suárez's gesture caught on camera, a gesture that André Villas-Boas made as a coach during his time in China and which earned him “a four-match ban.” For this reason, the club president questioned whether “Luis Suárez will also receive a four-match ban or if the Portuguese league can be compared to the Chinese league.”

After all, “Luis Suárez has just called referee Cláudio Pereira a thief, with gestures that were clear to all television cameras,” and this has led FC Porto to intend to “file a complaint” against the Colombian striker from Sporting Lisbon. For André Villas-Boas, “the penalty is obvious, but so is the foul that Pepê suffers from behind,” so “the referee ended up not being up to the task” of “a semifinal with the importance that this one has.”

“What seems clear is that there is a team that gets away with everything and continues to simulate fouls, that says the referees are thieves, and that has a president and players on the field who put constant pressure on the referees. This conditioning of refereeing is evident and was seen during the week due to the penalty on Fofana against FC Arouca. This leads to referees making some mistakes”, concluded the FC Porto boss.

Luis Suárez's gesture that everyone saw
“Above all, I want to send a message that seems very clear to me. When I was a coach in the Chinese league, I was banned for four games for making a gesture similar to Luis Suárez's. The president of Sporting Lisbon has already called the president of the Federation, João Capela, and Nuno Almeida thieves. Luis Suárez has just called referee Cláudio Pereira a thief, with gestures that were clear to all television cameras. So, I want to know if Luis Suárez will also receive a four-match ban or if the Portuguese league can be compared to the Chinese league. The example is clear. It happened to me and I received a four-match ban. Just as I expected the president of Sporting Lisbon to be punished, the Disciplinary Council decided to dismiss very serious accusations against the president of the Portuguese Football Federation. I want to see if Luis Suárez will be punished or if we will have to compare the Portuguese league to the Chinese league. We intend to file a complaint, of course.”

Foul on Pepê before the penalty
“When Sporting Lisbon’s coach wants to see things, he sees things; when he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t, because there was a clear foul on Pepê before the play that led to the free kick that resulted in the penalty. The penalty is obvious, but so is the foul on Pepê from behind. We recently had a case where a goal was disallowed for FC Famalicão against Sporting because the VAR decided to intervene. Here, the VAR couldn't intervene, obviously, but the referee had to be more attentive to call these fouls.”

The plays involving Alberto Costa
“It’s possibly a yellow card, but the problem is that there was no reason for a yellow card before, and the referee gives it. That was the problem with a risky appointment by the Refereeing Committee for a semifinal with the importance that this one has. Unfortunately, the referee ended up not being up to the task. What seems clear is that there is a team that gets away with everything and continues to simulate fouls, that says the referees are thieves, and that has a president and players on the field who put constant pressure on the referees. This conditioning of refereeing is evident and was seen during the week due to the penalty against Fofana against FC Arouca. This leads referees to make some mistakes.”