A storm is brewing in the football world. Estoril finds itself deeply frustrated by a new match schedule. Their upcoming game against Santa Clara is now set for September 6 at 8:30 PM. This date falls right in the middle of a FIFA international break.
This new schedule causes big problems for Estoril. Several of their key players will be away on national team duty. Martin Turk and Kevin Boma are already confirmed to join their countries. Other players like Nodar Lominadze, Or Israelov, Lowe Fletcher, Yanis Begraoui, and Fabrício Garcia are also on preliminary call-up lists. Losing so many players makes the club question the fairness of the decision.
The game, part of the third round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, was originally planned for last weekend. Santa Clara, an island team, asked for it to be moved. They are busy with a playoff to get into the Conference League. Santa Clara played their first leg at home on Thursday, August 21. Their second leg away against Ireland’s Shamrock Rovers is on Thursday, August 28. Teams in European competitions get special protection for scheduling.
Estoril still feels this new date is unfair. League rules say there must be 72 hours between games. Estoril believes this rule could have been met if the match was played on Monday, for example. What really adds to their anger? Other big clubs, like Benfica and Sporting Braga, have played under similar conditions this season without such issues.
Sources close to the club suggest Estoril believes there were other suitable dates. These dates would have avoided the FIFA window. However, Santa Clara reportedly insisted on playing on September 6. A league memo to clubs allows teams in European competitions to set their own league game dates. They do not need the opponent’s agreement. This particular rule has not gone down well at Estoril’s home ground, the Amoreira.
Estoril’s coach, Ian Cathro, has already spoken out. He criticized the league calendar publicly back in mid-August. He made it clear then that he immediately rejected Santa Clara’s first idea to play the third-round match during an international break. Cathro even used humor to make his point. “We have players in national teams and I promised to take my daughter to Disneyland,” the Scottish coach quipped. He then added a serious note: “I support our league, but when things like this happen, we must speak up.”
Talks between the clubs are still ongoing. However, there is much confusion and strong feelings at Estoril. They cannot understand Santa Clara’s firm stance. They also remain unhappy that the league allows calendar changes without both clubs agreeing.