A growing storm brewed this week as yet another club, Rio Ave, voiced its strong disapproval of Liga Portugal’s scheduling decisions. The club joins FC Porto in a chorus of frustration after a ripple effect of calendar changes disrupted their plans. Porto first raised concerns when their seventh-round clash against Arouca was shifted from September 28 to September 29. The reason given? A local Harvest Fair in Arouca. Now, Rio Ave’s match against Famalicão, also in the seventh round, finds itself in the crosshairs, pushed onto the very date Porto’s game originally held.
Rio Ave’s leadership, their football SAD (Sociedade Anónima Desportiva), made their displeasure public. They explained that Liga Portugal first notified them on September 16 about moving their away game at Famalicão. The league’s reasoning hinged on an “exceptionality.” This rare circumstance, they claimed, forced the delay of the Arouca vs. FC Porto match to a Monday. Rio Ave, however, immediately shot down this idea, stating their “total and absolute disagreement” with the proposed change.
“This new change to our set schedule clearly hurts our sporting plan,” the club explained. “We are just ten days out from the match. Our already tight training week gets even worse. We now face three games in nine days, with two of them being away matches, back-to-back. This puts us at a disadvantage compared to our opponent.” Rio Ave did not hold back. They believe the league’s problem is not an “exceptionality.” Instead, it is Liga Portugal’s “failure to foresee the issue and plan the matchdays with the necessary and careful consideration.”
The club also lamented the lack of cooperation from both the league and the television broadcaster. They highlighted that no one seemed willing to schedule both affected matches on Monday, September 29. This date had available time slots as per regulations.
Rio Ave’s frustrations stem from an already tricky season start. Their first-round game against SL Benfica was pushed to Tuesday, September 23, due to Benfica’s European commitments. This already packed their schedule. They were set to play their sixth-round match against FC Porto on September 19, then the Famalicão game on September 29. This original calendar had been confirmed by Liga Portugal in official announcements on September 5 and 6.
The “exceptionality” cited by the league, reportedly under Article 44, Section 3, of their competition rules, pointed to safety worries. The annual Arouca Harvest Fair, a town festival running since 1944, takes place near the stadium. This event, announced months in advance, has been a known factor for years when scheduling Arouca’s home games. Rio Ave stressed this point directly to Liga Portugal President, Reinaldo Teixeira.
They firmly stated that this wasn’t an unforeseen issue. It was a failure of the league to use information that has been common knowledge for years. The club believes Liga Portugal must face its responsibility for this “comical situation.” They argue it shows how a major industry can be swayed by a fair planned well in advance. Rio Ave hopes that the league will, in the future, honor its stated values, especially credibility. This would ensure high-quality competitions and prevent such incidents from harming clubs again.
