Portuguese FA president Proença brands leaked referee audio 'distorted and decontextualised', threatens legal action

Leaked recordings detail

Recordings of Pedro Proença from meetings held around two years ago surfaced on social media on 28 July 2026. At the time Proença was president of Liga Portugal and campaigning for the leadership of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). In the audio he delivers a blunt assessment of Portuguese referees and makes pointed remarks about José Fontelas Gomes, a former refereeing chief who is now the FPF’s vice-president.

The referees are weak, they are all very weak. And you manage to have three, four guys who are minimally competent. The rest are very weak guys.

Another excerpt addresses Fontelas Gomes directly.

Zé is a product of Pedro who, at a certain point, Tiago Craveiro forced to pretend some war with me. Don’t expect from Zé a guy as super competent as me. Ah, because Zé has the 12th year, he’s a guy who was born in the can neighbourhood, made himself a man in football.

Proença also invokes his own legal history, telling a meeting participant identified as Fernando Seara that of 32 times he was summoned by the criminal police, 27 were cases brought by Benfica, and warning him not to play that game.

Proença’s statement

On 29 July, Proença broke his silence via a written statement posted on his social media channels. He described the material as “excerpts from private, informal, truncated, meticulously selected, distorted, incomplete and decontextualised conversations,” obtained and published in an illegal and immoral manner. He insisted the exchanges took place more than two years ago during a pre-election context when he was campaigning and that the views aired were later incorporated into his electoral programme and the FPF’s 2024‑36 strategic plan.

Reserving me the right to question not only the intentionally contextually distorted form in which they are presented but also the timing of their disclosure, I invite everyone to reflect seriously on this.

Proença confirmed he will pursue all available legal avenues against those who, in his words, “in an illegal and cowardly way contributed to obtaining and later publicly disclosing” the recordings.

Reactions from rivals and referees

Nuno Lobo, who stood against Proença in the 2025 FPF elections and lost by 75% to 25%, was quick to weigh in.

People already know me. I have always fought for clean and transparent football. But from what we are seeing, the rot and cynicism have continued to prevail. I will not stop following this sad soap opera.

The Portuguese Football Referees Association (APAF) had already expressed surprise and concern on Tuesday and called on Proença to clarify the context, content and motive of the remarks. On Wednesday morning Proença summoned APAF president José Borges and the country’s referees to a meeting, which the referees declined to attend.

What happens next

Proença’s statement does not deny the authenticity of the recordings. By framing them as distorted fragments of private conversations and pledging legal action, he leaves the immediate controversy unresolved while signalling he intends to fight back through the courts. The FPF has not released any further comment beyond the four-point declaration.