Portuguese football leaders walked back a timeline for professional referee reform on Sunday after regional associations rejected a premature announcement.
The third Council of Presidents gathered on Saturday in Braga to discuss changes to refereeing structures. The board under Pedro Proença wanted an external entity to take over professional referee management by the 2027-28 season, two years ahead of the original 2029-30 target, Record reported.
The Federação Portuguesa de Futebol initially announced that the council had decided to urge the government and parliament to fast-track the legal changes. That public statement appeared shortly after 18h local time on Saturday.
Club and regional representatives quickly made it clear that the council had not actually agreed to demand an accelerated start for the new body. Several member associations grew angry over the claim and prepared to issue public denials, according to reporting by Correio da Manhã.
Vasco Pinho, the FPF official who ran the meeting, messaged the federation’s members to explain that the first release contained errors caused by a rushed drafting process. He pointed to the time crunch and the distraction of Portugal’s match against Denmark, which kicked off at 19h45 on Saturday.
“I am sharing the statement with the conclusions of the council, now with the due corrections, since the initial version contained some inaccuracies resulting from the pressure of yesterday’s game and the reduced time available for its preparation,” Vasco Pinho wrote to the federation’s members.
The federation updated its website to soften the announcement’s language regarding the reform schedule.
“The 3rd Council of Presidents, meeting this Saturday in Braga, was informed that the Portuguese Football Federation will alert the Government and the Assembly of the Republic to the maximum urgency of the legislative changes, already sent by the FPF Directorate to the Executive, and mandatory for the creation of the Professional Arbitration Management Entity, so that the new external entity can become operational swiftly, if possible starting from the next season, 2027-28,” the revised statement read.
