A new controversy is shaking the football world, stirring up questions about fairness and transparency. At its heart is a recent survey from the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). This survey aimed to map the club loyalties of its various board members. Benfica’s president, Rui Costa, has now called this whole situation “serious,” stepping forward with strong words in an interview with TSF.
The issue first broke last Sunday, brought to light by Frederico Varandas, who leads Sporting CP, often called the Lions. Rui Costa, representing the club known as the Reds, finds it deeply troubling. He believes it wasn’t right for these numbers to become public. He noted that no other current football president even spoke about this survey beforehand. Now, the FPF might need to conduct its own internal checks to figure out who supports which team.
What really raises eyebrows for Rui Costa is the strange detail that the Sporting president, Frederico Varandas, somehow got his hands on a specific number that no one else had access to. This is the crucial part that he finds so worrying. “This is serious and should not have happened,” Rui Costa insisted. He added that it doesn’t matter which team FPF staff members prefer, especially since their identities remain unknown. The main problem, he says, is that only one president had this special information. He wants to know exactly how Varandas came to possess such a unique detail.