Benfica complaint over Porto Classic referees archived by FPF disciplinary council

The complaint and the ruling

The disciplinary council of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) has archived Benfica's complaint against the referee team that handled the seventh-round Primeira Liga Classic with FC Porto, which Porto won 3-1 on 20 September. The complaint targeted the crew led by Miguel Nogueira, together with video referee Luís Ferreira and assistant João Bessa Silva. Benfica had pointed to seven incidents it said deserved a different assessment, among them a foul by Gabri Veiga on Bah, a contact to Prestianni's face by Alberto Costa and an alleged penalty between Kiwior and Rafa. It also questioned the second yellow card that sent Clément Lenglet off in the 35th minute, when Porto were already ahead through a Gabri Veiga goal, and a foul on João Palhinha, which it cited as proof of unequal standards.

Why the council rejected it

The council ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support any disciplinary offence by the referees and found nothing showing a passive or negligent stance by the referee team. Its conclusion followed a request for an opinion from the professional section of the federation's Referees Council. The council said Benfica was free to disagree with on-pitch decisions, but it drew a firm line at complaints it considered baseless, as its written ruling makes clear.

“Such disagreement and the right to objective criticism of referees' performance must not be exercised through disciplinary complaints whose lack of grounds the complainant knows or should know.”

The council also lamented the method Benfica used to contest the refereeing and warned that the complainants could be ordered to pay costs.

Manteigas and the regulations

On 13 November former presidential candidate João Diogo Manteigas, who lost the 2025 Benfica presidential election to Rui Costa, criticised the decision on LinkedIn. Manteigas, a lawyer and Benfica member, opened by citing the first paragraph of article 199 of the Liga Portugal disciplinary regulation, which sets suspensions of one to five matches for referee teams that take a passive or negligent attitude towards incorrect conduct. He argued that the seven incidents in the attached video should have met that threshold and that the council had gone further than it needed to. He also accused the council of provoking Benfica with its warning, calling the ruling an unjustified assessment.

“None of the incidents in the attached video was enough for the council to find the referees passive or negligent.”

Manteigas then argued that the rules put referees under the same disciplinary regime as players, coaches and officials, and that institutional solidarity towards referees should be opposed.

“Referees are subject to the same disciplinary regime as players, coaches and officials.”

An earlier ruling on Porto

On 6 November the council cleared FC Porto of a separate Benfica complaint about what Benfica called provocative and disrespectful behaviour, including songs and fan animation inside Porto's stadium, which Benfica had asked to be banned. In the same period the council suspended a kit man for 30 days over alleged offensive gestures that Benfica had accused him of making. Both files now sit alongside the archived refereeing complaint, which the council closed on the grounds of insufficient evidence.