Apito Dourado
Encyclopedia
The Apito Dourado affair is a corruption
sports scandal in Portuguese
football
that first arose in 2004. Portuguese Judiciary Police (Polícia Judiciária
) investigators named several football personalities as suspects (arguido
s) of corrupting or attempting to corrupt referees, including Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa
, chairman of Futebol Clube do Porto, and the former Boavista Futebol Clube chairman and Portuguese League for Professional Football
President Valentim Loureiro
.
In December 2006, Pinto da Costa's former partner Carolina Salgado
published the book Eu, Carolina (I, Carolina), where she made serious accusations against him. Pinto da Costa deemed these accusations "absurd" and said he would address them in court
. Salgado's book caused the two cases in which Pinto da Costa was involved, which had already been dismissed, to be re-opened.
In March 2008, Porto's Tribunal de Instrução Criminal decided that one of these cases, concerning a match between FC Porto and Beira-Mar, would proceed to trial. The other one, concerning a match between Porto and Estrela da Amadora, was dismissed for the second time in June 2008 and the main accusation witness, Salgado, accused of perjury.
In July 2008, Valentim Loureiro was found guilty of abuse of power but not guilty of corruption. He was sentenced to three years, two months of suspended jail time.
for bribery and FC Porto were docked six points for attempted bribery. This caused UEFA
's Control and Disciplinary Body to ban the team from the UEFA Champions League 2008–09
, but this decision was later annulled by UEFA's Appeals Body, meaning Porto has been admitted to the competition. Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Vitória de Guimarães appealed to Tribunal Arbitral du Sport, but once again, the reason was given to FC Porto, and was decided each of this teams had to pay €10,000 to FC Porto. The Portuguese League has also sentenced Pinto da Costa to a two-year suspension; João Loureiro
, former Boavista chairman and Valentim Loureiro's son; to a four-year suspension; and João Bartolomeu, União de Leiria chairman, to a one-year suspension. Five referees have also been suspended. All the clubs, chairmen, and referees punished have filed appeals, except for FC Porto, whose punishment didn't prevent them from comfortably winning the Portuguese League title for the third consecutive time with 14 points ahead of the competition.
Under the Constitutional and Ordinary Laws, phone recordings can only be admitted in court when certain types of crime, by their specificity or gravity, allow the use of such means of evidence.
On May 2011, the Central Administrative Court of the South of Portugal ruled that the decision of taking six points from Porto´s global classification in the 2007-2008 season, as well as the suspension of Porto´s President, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa for two years, both confirmed in 2008 on a controversial meeting made by the Justice Council of the Portuguese Football Federation, were to be ruled as "inexistent", due to the fact that those decisions were taken by a small number of the remaining counselors, after the meeting had been declared finished by the Council´s President, and acting behind the President´s and the Vice-President´s back, as they were absent by then. The Portuguese Football Federation has announced it would appeal from this decision to the Administrative Supreme Court.
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
sports scandal in Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
that first arose in 2004. Portuguese Judiciary Police (Polícia Judiciária
Polícia Judiciária
The Polícia Judiciária is the main police branch of criminal investigation in Portugal, dedicated to fighting criminality, organized crime, terrorism, drugs, corruption and financial crimes...
) investigators named several football personalities as suspects (arguido
Arguido
Arguido or arguida , normally translated "named suspect" or "formal suspect", is a status in Portuguese language legal systems, including the legal systems of Portugal and Mozambique....
s) of corrupting or attempting to corrupt referees, including Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa
Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa
Jorge Nuno de Lima Pinto da Costa is a Portuguese football chairman, currently in charge of F.C. Porto.-Early years:Pinto da Costa was born in Porto, the son of José Alexandrino Teixeira da Costa and Maria Elisa Bessa Lima de Amorim Pinto, who fathered other four children, including future...
, chairman of Futebol Clube do Porto, and the former Boavista Futebol Clube chairman and Portuguese League for Professional Football
Portuguese League for Professional Football
Portuguese League for Professional Football is the main organizing entity for professional football in Portugal, headquartered in the city of Porto....
President Valentim Loureiro
Valentim Loureiro
thumb|230px|Valentim LoureiroValentim dos Santos de Loureiro is a Portuguese politician, and former football chairman of Boavista F.C. and Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional. He has the rank of Major of the Portuguese Army...
.
In December 2006, Pinto da Costa's former partner Carolina Salgado
Carolina Salgado
Carolina Salgado is a former partner of FC Porto's president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa. A former escort, Carolina Salgado became known as Pinto da Costa's companion in the early 2000s...
published the book Eu, Carolina (I, Carolina), where she made serious accusations against him. Pinto da Costa deemed these accusations "absurd" and said he would address them in court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
. Salgado's book caused the two cases in which Pinto da Costa was involved, which had already been dismissed, to be re-opened.
In March 2008, Porto's Tribunal de Instrução Criminal decided that one of these cases, concerning a match between FC Porto and Beira-Mar, would proceed to trial. The other one, concerning a match between Porto and Estrela da Amadora, was dismissed for the second time in June 2008 and the main accusation witness, Salgado, accused of perjury.
In July 2008, Valentim Loureiro was found guilty of abuse of power but not guilty of corruption. He was sentenced to three years, two months of suspended jail time.
Apito Final
In 2007, the Portuguese League for Football started an unrelated process calling it Apito Final (Final Whistle). On 9 May 2008, Boavista were relegated to the second-tier Liga de HonraLiga de Honra
The Liga de Honra , known for sponsorship reasons as the Liga Orangina, is the Portuguese second level football league. It was formerly called Segunda Divisão and Segunda Divisão de Honra . When the LPFP took control of the two nationwide levels, it was renamed Segunda Liga, before renaming it...
for bribery and FC Porto were docked six points for attempted bribery. This caused UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
's Control and Disciplinary Body to ban the team from the UEFA Champions League 2008–09
UEFA Champions League 2008–09
The 2008–09 UEFA Champions League was the 54th edition of Europe's premier club football tournament and the 17th edition under the current UEFA Champions League format. The final was played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May 2009. It was the eighth time the European Cup final has been held in...
, but this decision was later annulled by UEFA's Appeals Body, meaning Porto has been admitted to the competition. Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Vitória de Guimarães appealed to Tribunal Arbitral du Sport, but once again, the reason was given to FC Porto, and was decided each of this teams had to pay €10,000 to FC Porto. The Portuguese League has also sentenced Pinto da Costa to a two-year suspension; João Loureiro
João Loureiro
João Loureiro was the most successfull chairman of the history of Portuguese sports club Boavista FC from Porto, between 1997 and 2007, period in which Boavista was Champion of Portugal once , Vice-Champion twice, went three times to the Champions League, won the Cup and the Supercup of Portugal,...
, former Boavista chairman and Valentim Loureiro's son; to a four-year suspension; and João Bartolomeu, União de Leiria chairman, to a one-year suspension. Five referees have also been suspended. All the clubs, chairmen, and referees punished have filed appeals, except for FC Porto, whose punishment didn't prevent them from comfortably winning the Portuguese League title for the third consecutive time with 14 points ahead of the competition.
Acquittal
On 3 April 2009, Pinto da Costa was acquitted on all charges related to the Beira-Mar-FC Porto match of the 2003-04 season, by the Portuguese Justice.Under the Constitutional and Ordinary Laws, phone recordings can only be admitted in court when certain types of crime, by their specificity or gravity, allow the use of such means of evidence.
On May 2011, the Central Administrative Court of the South of Portugal ruled that the decision of taking six points from Porto´s global classification in the 2007-2008 season, as well as the suspension of Porto´s President, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa for two years, both confirmed in 2008 on a controversial meeting made by the Justice Council of the Portuguese Football Federation, were to be ruled as "inexistent", due to the fact that those decisions were taken by a small number of the remaining counselors, after the meeting had been declared finished by the Council´s President, and acting behind the President´s and the Vice-President´s back, as they were absent by then. The Portuguese Football Federation has announced it would appeal from this decision to the Administrative Supreme Court.
See also
- 2005 Bundesliga scandal2005 Bundesliga scandalIn early 2005, German football was overshadowed by the discovery of a €2 million match fixing scandal centered on second division referee Robert Hoyzer, who confessed to fixing and betting on matches in the 2nd Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal , and the third division Regionalliga...
- 2006 scandal in Italian football
- 2009 European football betting scandal2009 European football betting scandalThe 2009 European football betting scandal was an attempt to influence the outcome of professional association football matches in Europe, and to defraud the gambling industry by betting on the results...
- 2011 Italian football scandal2011 Italian football scandalThe 2011 Italian football scandal emerged on 1 June 2011 after a number of football-related figures were arrested, or made under official scrutiny, by Italian police for alleged matchfixing...
- 2011 scandal in Greek footballKoriopolisThe Koriopolis is the name given by the Greek press for a match fixing scandal in Greek football that came to light in June 2011. The investigation centres around offences including illegal gambling, fraud, extortion and money laundering....
- 2011 South Korean football betting scandal2011 South Korean football betting scandalThe 2011 South Korean football betting scandal involved South Korea's top professional football leagues, K-League. In mid 2011, South Korean association football, especially K-League, was overshadowed by the discovery of match fixing scandal among the players, brokers such as gangsters and coaches...
- 2011 Turkish sports corruption scandal2011 Turkish sports corruption scandalThe 2011 Turkish Sports corruption scandal is an ongoing investigation about match fixing, incentive premium, bribery, establishing a criminal organization, organized crime, extortion, threat and intimidation in Turkey's top two association football divisions, the Süper Lig and First League, and...
- Brazilian football match-fixing scandalBrazilian football match-fixing scandalMáfia do Apito , sometimes referred to as the Escândalo do Apito , was the name given by the Brazilian press to the football match-fixing scandal reported by Veja magazine on September 23, 2005....