30/12/05 Yet another player has rescinded his contract with cash-strapped Liga de Honra side Ovarense (see below). Forward André Soares
brings the total now to 11 (the others are Edu, Inzaghi, Eduardo Sousa, Gisvi, Miguel Soares, Serginho, Rodolfo, Adilson, Artur and Hugo Coelho). It leaves coach Manuel Correia with just
14 players to face top club Beira-Mar on 8 January, three of them goalkeepers. 28/12/05 Ovarense, bottom club in the Liga de Honra
(second division), is, like many of the smaller clubs in Portugal, going through dire financial straits. Ten players have now rescinded their contracts citing several months' wages overdue. Given the club's parlous state, the
president Carlos Brás has also resigned. Ovarense's upcoming fixture with top club Beira-Mar now looks in jeopardy. 22/12/05 Former Portuguese international Abel Xavier
saw his appeal against an 18-month suspension following doping charges quashed by UEFA Wednesday. He was caught after the September 29 UEFA cup game between his current side Middlesboro and Greek club FC Xanthi.
20/12/05 Former captain Hélio
Filipe Dias de Sousa has been named the new coach at cash-strapped Vitória de Setúbal. Hélio hung up his boots at the end of last season. Meanwhile, the club made a vaialble an undisclosed sum for payment of overdue wages to the players and technical staff. However, it was reported that five players have now rescinded their contracts with just cause (salaries in arrears). They are
Fabien, Tchomogo, Diakité, Fonte and Dembelé, who was presented as a Standard Liége player Monday. The Players Union confirmed the rescissions, while president Chumbita Nunes
said that nothing concrete had been received at the club. What must be a traumatised Vitória face Benfica Wednesday ... if the threatened strike by the players does not go ahead. 19/12/05 Coach Luís Norton de Matos rescinded his contract with Vitória de Setúbal
Sunday morning. The club faces serious financial problems, and there is a conflict between the players and technical staff, with two and a half months' salary owing, and the board, especially president Chumbita Nunes
. Despite the internal problems, the team occupy a notable third place in the Liga. 16/12/05 Vitória de Setúbal's B team
have said that they will support the first team in a strike, threatened to coincide with the upcoming game against Benfica. It was mooted that the B team and juniors would stand in for the A team if they didn't
show, in protest at overdue salaries. The fragile situation at Vitória was not helped Thursday when players found out that club president Chumbita Nunes
had apparently paid himself 16,000 euros for November, plus Christmas subsidy. Sporting have commissioned a watch to commemorate their 100th anniversary. Designed by master Swiss watchmaker
Franck Müller in 'green' gold (gold with 25% copper), the 36 watches produced sell for 19,800 euros apiece. That is, they would sell ... if they weren't already sold out. Why 36?
Because that's the sum total of Sporting's domestic titles to date (Liga, Taça and Supertaça). 15/12/05 Vítor Pontes has been confirmed as the new coach at
Vitória de Guimarães after the exit of Jaime Pacheco from the struggling northern club, third from bottom of the Liga and out of the UEFA Cup. Pontes was coach at União de Leiria
until the end of last season. His contract at Vitória is until the end of the season, with one more year as optional. He will be presented officially Thursday. The Portuguese Footballers' Union has voted
FC Porto winger Ricardo Quaresma Player of the Month for November. His teammate, the Argentinian midfielder Lucho Gonzalez, was second. 14/12/05 Vitória de Setúbal
's players, currently riding high in third place in the Liga, have formally warned the club and authorities that they will go on strike if they are not paid at least two months of the three months of salary they
are owed. The strike, if it took place, would affect next week's top of the table clash against Benfica. FC Porto and União de Leiria face disciplinary action from the Liga
for the absence of winger Maciel in last weekend's Liga
game. Maciel is on loan from Porto, but Liga regulations state that clubs that loan out players cannot prevent them from playing in games against them. 10/12/05 Jaime Pacheco
has left Vitória de Guimarães. The team are second from bottom of the Liga and have just been knocked out of the UEFA Cup at the group stage. For the moment, former player Basílio Marques
will coach the team, certainly for their next game against bottom club Penafial. The Vitória de Setúbal
players, with various months of salary overdue, issued a press release Friday bemoaning their plight. Among other things, it said : "We have lost confidence in the chairman of the club and we reserve the right to take extreme measures, which we are loath to do, but which we hope will urgently resolve our problems." Despite their difficult position, the players have been exemplary in their
commitment and currently occupy third spot in the Liga. 07/12/05 Manuel Cajuda resigned as Naval coach Monday, to be replaced Tuesday by former coach Álvaro Magalhães, who
has most recently been assistant coach at Benfica. After a promising start after being promoted this season, Naval have slumped and are now in the relegation places of the Liga. 04/12/05 The
Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) made a net profit of 7.172 million euros for the last financial year, a rise of 37% over the previous year. 02/12/05 Sporting
are Portugal's top team, according to the International Federation of Football Statistics and History ranking, down eight places at 24th. Benfica are in 70th (down from 56th) and FC Porto are 98th (from 73rd).
The Angolan-born former Benfica, now Málaga winger Edgar, who represented Portugal at youth level and once at full international level in a friendly against Mozambique, has had his request to be
eligible for selection for the Angola squad in the World Cup turned down by FIFA. Edgar missed the deadline for registration, which was last December ... before Angola's presence in Germany was confirmed.
Sporting's Ricardo and João Moutinho, along with Jorge Andrade of Deportivo La Coruña, will take part in the third annual Game Against Poverty, to be played in Düsseldorf on 22 December.
The game will be organise by ronaldo and Zidane of Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo's house in England was burgled recently while the Manchester United winger was away on international duty. The thieves
made off with jewellery, including a collection of Cartier watches, worth 43,000 euros, but the Portuguese international decided not to pursue the matter. Evandro
Luís Brandão Campos, second highest scorer in the Liga de Honra last season for Maia (17 goals), this season signed to Santa Clara, has retired at the age of 23 due to heart problems. He has
rescinded with the Azores side and has returned to Brazil. |
