Boavista Futebol Clube has withdrawn its senior team from competition, blaming its professional football management company for “repeatedly unfulfilled promises” regarding FIFA transfer bans that have also impacted its youth development programs.
The club’s board announced the decision, directly attributing responsibility to Boavista Futebol Clube, Futebol, SAD, its professional football management entity. It cited an “unsustainable institutional relationship” as the reason for the withdrawal.
FIFA impediments, which prevent the club from registering new players, were not resolved and worsened in recent weeks. This “totally compromised our sporting project,” the club stated in a public message.
The club’s General Council unanimously approved the decision to withdraw its senior team from the AF Porto 1st Division. This move came after the club aimed to establish a senior team directly under its name, a step not taken for 24 years.
However, the SAD’s failure to lift the FIFA bans made player registration impossible. The club described the SAD’s earlier promises to resolve these issues as “vain and unfounded.”
The inability to register players also severely impacted Boavista’s youth categories. The Under-16 team’s registration was canceled due to these restrictions.
Additionally, the Under-15 and Under-17 teams are now operating under “limited conditions.” The club called this damage “irreversible” and a situation it “cannot continue to tolerate.”
Boavista also noted that the SAD had not communicated its sporting project for the current season. Furthermore, the management company failed to present any plan to regularize the impediments or fulfill its obligations.
The club apologized to opposing teams for the withdrawal from competition. It expressed a desire to return to official competitions soon.
Boavista called it “unacceptable and infamous” that youth development, a foundational aspect of football, is harmed by “incompetence and non-compliance” in professional football. The club stated it refuses to be “complicit” in a situation that harms sporting integrity.
The board pledged to resume senior team activity “as soon as possible” to ensure the club can return to top Portuguese and European football. Appeals for support to various authorities, including the AF Porto, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), and the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ), had not yielded a solution.