THE BALL – Miguel Braga criticizes the refereeing of the match with Benfica (Handball)

Miguel Braga, Sporting’s communications director, harshly criticized the referees’ work in the handball Super Cup match with Benfica, also denouncing that Martim Costa and Kiko Costa were bullied.

“I think it was a great handball game, a hymn to sport. It is a pity that the victory went to the rival. It was exciting, it was close to the end. We didn’t win, the sport won. But taking advantage of the start of the season, I would like to leave an appeal to the federation. There is one of the cases that, despite having given a lot of ink, according to the new and current rules, is highly subjective, as no one has noticed whether the referee has whistled or not, which allows or not the player is in advantage the playing field. With the noise that was in the pavilion, that whistle is not noticeable. But one thing that was very evident, and that deserves a direct appeal, to the federation, is that both Martim and Kiko Costa, Kiko in particular, were really massacred by the opposing defenses, and often this does not happen according to the laws of the game. », He said, in the program of Raio X Sporting, continuing:

“We are here to see some images of assaults that have passed without the right sanction and these sanctions must have the sanction that exists in the law, in order to protect talent. They are the future of our Selection and this bullying constant to our players should not be allowed, especially when done repeatedly by the same player. The images speak for themselves, unfortunately they did not have the relative sanction ”.

The official also questioned: “There is another case that deserves reflection on the part of federal officials. I was a little surprised that a person who was not on the match sheet was on the pitch making referees decisions, especially at crucial moments in the match. It’s not very normal to see the President of the Referee Council on the pitch, I don’t think it’s a handball thing in Portugal. I think the Federation should explain to the clubs what this gentleman was doing on the pitch instead of being in his place ”.

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