Several times during the session that took place this morning at the Campus da Justiça, Carlos Duarte compared the case to golden whistle email several times. The former referee, also a lawyer, was out of his depth when he was invited to speak about Ferreira Nunez’s closeness to Benfica, as well as the connection between Joao Pinheiro, Nuno Cabral and Paulo Gonçalves. “It is outrageous because we have publicly witnessed the impact that Apito Dourado has had on refereeing. We all know what people and clubs like Benfica said. This was a particular surprise and surprise, since we were sure that the distribution of emails, a behavior that we condemned and rejected. It turns out that the position of some leaders in this whole topic is ironic., – defended the former member of the Arbitration Board.
In the presence of Francisco J. Marquez, a witness for the defense of Diogo Faria, one of the defendants in this trial, there was talk of suspicious “promiscuous relationships.” “I took Nuno Cabral’s closeness to Benfica as a betrayal because he is still a former referee. And the word “closeness” is very beautiful. “Promiscuity” with Paulo Gonçalves would be the most accurate term,” analyzed Carlos Duarte, who before the panel of judges went even further with criticism: “Contacts between Joao Pinheiro and Nuno Cabral, who subsequently contacted Paulo Gonçalves, are not proper. I am sure that this is a reason for disciplinary sanctions, and from an ethical point of view, there are no conditions for refereeing the matches of Benfica and some other clubs. Clubitis cannot harm the task of the agents.”
It should be recalled that Francisco J. Márquez published an e-mail on the Porto channel, in which it was clear that João Pinheiro had sent Nuno Cabral, at that time a delegate of the League, a report on the game he managed between Moreirense and Belenenses, in which he had a positive assessment. The judge later complained about the score he had received, which was sent back to Nuno Cabral. He forwarded the above email to Paulo Gonçalves, the Eagles’ former legal adviser. Francisco J. Márquez hypothesized that this email exchange was intended to influence the Eagles so that the referee’s score could be improved.
Carlos Duarte did not finish his testimony without leaving a “beak”. “Perhaps this season we are seeing some dangerous demonstrations, but I want to believe that it’s nothing to worry about,” he shot.
