Sporting CP hires Paulo Fonseca as new head coach

Sporting CP has reached an agreement to hire Paulo Fonseca as their new head coach in a deal valued at five million euros, according to a report from Correio da Manhã. The 53-year-old manager is set to succeed Rui Borges, signing a contract that remains valid until 2030.

The appointment marks Fonseca’s return to Portuguese football more than a decade after he last managed in the country for Sporting de Braga.

Fonseca secures Sporting contract through 2030

Fonseca was the choice of Sporting president Frederico Varandas to lead the technical staff.

Fonseca faced a nine-month suspension from the French disciplinary council following an incident at the end of a Lyon match, where he was expelled after a confrontation with a referee. The incident involved the manager pressing his head against the referee’s head. Despite an apology, the suspension was upheld, a decision Kateryn​a Ostroushko Fonseca described on Instagram as absurd, absolutely scandalous, unprecedented, and a political execution, adding, Justice, please, not a political execution.

Kateryna Ostroushko Fonseca joins the move to Portugal

The transition to Lisbon includes Fonseca’s wife, Kateryna Ostroushko Fonseca, a 35-year-old Ukrainian national and former television presenter. Kateryna built a career in the Donbass region before moving to Kyiv, where she served as a communications specialist and an assistant to Rinat Akhmetov, the president of Shakhtar Donetsk. Her career began in the Donbass media sector, a region that became a conflict zone with Russia in 2014. She had been linked to the Ukraine media group since 2011. I also arrived at presenting television programs, she revealed to the Italian newspaper Il Tempo in 2020.

The couple met in 2017 while Fonseca was managing Shakhtar Donetsk. They formalized their relationship and married in Italy on May 29, 2018. While Fonseca has managed in various countries, including Italy during his time at AS Roma, this move marks the first time Kateryna will reside in Portugal while her husband manages a professional team in the country. After Fonseca was replaced at AS Roma by José Mourinho, the couple had returned to Ukraine to be with family.

Family survives wartime evacuation from Kyiv

The move to Sporting follows a period of significant upheaval for the Fonseca family. In February 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the family was caught in Kyiv during bombardments. Fonseca, Kateryna, and their then-youngest son were forced to flee the city at 4:00 a.m. with only their luggage. Fonseca recalled, At four o’clock in the morning we started to feel the bombs falling in Kyiv. We only had time to grab the suitcases and go out to the street.

The family sought refuge in a hotel owned by the president of Shakhtar Donetsk alongside several Brazilian players. They eventually secured passage out of the country via a bus provided by the Portuguese embassy, a journey that lasted approximately 30 hours before they reached safety in Romania.

The Fonseca household currently includes four children. Two children, Diogo and Beatriz, are from Fonseca’s first marriage to Sandra Patrícia Fonseca. From his current union with Kateryna, the coach has two sons: Martim, who is six years old, and Christian, who was born on September 1, 2023.

More on this story: Paulo Fonseca Appointed Sporting CP Manager Until 2030 as Luís Neto Set to Leave · Paulo Fonseca Emerges as Top Target for Sporting CP Amid Uncertainty Over Rui Borges' Future

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Comparison of Fonseca’s professional timeline