Belenenses lost 17 footballers and members of the execution team due to the coronavirus, but failed to request a postponement of the match. “I dealt with it the afternoon before the match,” Reuters quoted club president Ruie Pedro Soares as saying.
“We had eight players, so they told us that if we didn’t come, it would be taken as an unexcused absence. It was a shame to play for all of us, “added Soares, adding that the players seem to have contracted a new omicron coronavirus mutation.
The rescue team therefore started with only nine players and collected seven times in the first half. The home team entered the second half at only seven, but after two minutes, Joao Monteiro, the goalkeeper, was injured in the reserve.
The referee ended the match prematurely at that moment, because the minimum number of players allowed is seven. “We didn’t want to play, just as Belenenses was forced to do. I’m sorry about what happened, it’s a dark chapter of our football and Portugal itself, “said Benfica boss Rui Costa.
The third team of the table and the defending champion Sporting Lisbon also commented on the match. “What has happened deserves the full attention of everyone who cares about sports. It needs to be addressed in the highest places. “The world is already full of it and it is another dark episode of Portuguese football,” he said in a statement.
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