All but one of FC Porto‘s players have released a joint statement criticising referees after their 1-0 defeat to Estoril.
Porto’s Primeira Liga title hopes were ended by the southern Portuguese minnows on Saturday, leaving them 10 points behind leaders Sporting CP who have played one game fewer.
Having already exited the Taca da Liga and Champions League, Porto’s only route to success is the Taca da Portugal, which amounts to a poor season for the European giants.
A win against Estoril could have left the team with an outside chance of the title, and their players think the officiating is to blame.
The whole squad, apart from defender Iván Marcano, all posted a clip of a coming together between Francisco Conceição and an Estoril defender, which they believed to be a clear penalty.
In a joint statement, the team wrote: “Although we think as a working group that most of the time the secret to continuing is to retreat to silence, after last night the least we can do is raise the voice of our REVOLUTION.
“Mistakes will always exist in life and football but not using or not knowing how to use the means to reduce them is just DELAY without explanation.
“With all this technology, will WE continue Portuguese football under the shadow of interpretations? In the shadow of dualities?
“It’s all about much more than win or lose… It’s all going beyond knowing how to lose or knowing how to win. This revolt resides in the levian way of being wrong and the only option we are given is to accept, shut up and carry on. Football is a small part of society, we all have to learn, improve and evolve, but for that we also have to make ourselves listen.”
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