The former Portuguese referee was, this Thursday, formally introduced as the new chairman of the refereeing commission of the Russian Football Federation, with a contract for the next two years.
“Working in Russian football is a new challenge for me and I want to thank the federation president for giving me this opportunity. Russian arbitration, both male and female, has enormous potential that we have to take advantage of. A lot of work awaits us», announced Vítor Pereira.
During the presentation, questioned by a Russian journalist about an alleged scandal in which he was involved in Portugal to pressure referees to favor Benfica, Vítor Pereira was clear: “I’m a fan of Sporting, Benfica’s biggest enemy since I was born.” he said.
Vítor Pereira was a referee in Portugal for 23 seasons and was a member of the UEFA staff for 11 years, during which time he directed 104 international matches, 24 in the Champions League. He participated in the 1998 World Cups in France, 2002 in South Korea and Japan, and in the 2000 European Championship in Belgium and the Netherlands. He was also in three continental competition finals (Super Cup, UEFA Cup and Intertoto Cup). He was a member of the UEFA Referees Committee and led the refereeing sector in the federations of Portugal (between 2011 and 2016), Greece (between 2017 and 2020) and Czech Republic, where he has been since the end of 2020, meaning less year, proposed precisely by UEFA, as had happened in Greece. He was also involved in a project by the Brazilian federation.
– .
