Benfica’s general director for football was suspended for 20 days by the Disciplinary Council (CD) of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) due to criticism and insults towards the refereeing team that refereed the Eagles’ reception to Casa Pia (2-2).
Mário Branco’s suspension is provisional and is part of an urgent disciplinary process opened against him.
According to some sports press, the red director approached referee Gustavo Correia in the tunnel leading to the changing rooms, insulting and threatening him, information that appears in the referee’s report and motivated this action by the FPF CD. “Shame”, “fucking clowns…”, and “I’m going to blow you up” were some of the words uttered.
In addition to Mário Branco’s suspension, Benfica was fined 510 euros due to the fact that, at the end of the game, its general director had “accessed the playing rectangle (…) He then followed the refereeing team along the way from the pitch to the changing room corridor (…) Having been witnessed by the League Delegate when monitoring the referee”, according to the League delegate’s report.
Physiotherapist Pedro Barreiras, sent off in that match, was punished with a one-match suspension and ordered to pay a fine of 1,300 euros for having used “offensive, insulting or abusive gestures and/or language directing the following words to the referee, which were heard by the fourth referee: ‘Hit your chest mate…, you have to go and see the VAR! This is a scandal'”.
Benfica was also ordered to pay 5,100 euros due to the incorrect behavior of the public, which again set off several pyrotechnic devices during the game.