In a statement, Benfica clarified the position taken on Tuesday at the General Assembly of the League regarding communication between VAR and refereeing teams.
Here is the statement:
“Sport Lisboa e Benfica explains that, for reasons of transparency, it will and will fully support the release of audio recordings between VAR and refereeing teams. However, this change, which is considered fundamental to Portuguese football, must be implemented in a legal and sustainable manner.
Sport Lisboa e Benfica understands that the General Assembly of the Portuguese Professional Football League is not and cannot be the place to make these changes. It is worth remembering that the rules approved today by this Assembly still have to be ratified by the FPF General Assembly, which, from a position supported by its Arbitration Board, considers such disclosure to be illegal.
It is therefore urgent to clarify the understanding expressed by the Portuguese Football Federation Arbitration Board that such disclosure is prohibited by the international governing bodies of football (IFAB and FIFA), a ban which, if any, has been overturned, at least in England and Brazil without any known consequences.
As one can understand, one cannot put such a fundamental building of the future of Portuguese football on such unstable foundations as these, changing the rule in the wrong place, risking initially compromising this whole initiative, and also without taking into account international experience in this matter.
In this sense, Sport Lisboa e Benfica will propose to urgently hold a Council of Presidents, in which the Portuguese Football Federation will be invited to put the question as the competent body to resolve this issue, so that it can fully and definitively clarify the international situation. organizations, what is the scope of the possible dissemination of such audio recordings as the main tool for the development of arbitration.
In this way, Sport Lisboa e Benfica confirms the urgent need to make public the audio recordings between the refereeing team and VAR as soon as possible, but with procedures that allow the effective application of this change, which is an invaluable contribution to protecting the transparency and credibility of Portuguese football.”
