Portugal aim to fend off FIFA suspension

The Portuguese Football Federation will issue a decree on Monday aimed at settling a relegation row that has disrupted the start of the season and could lead FIFA to suspend Portugal from international football.

Gilberto Madail, the federation’s head, said the decree will say it is in the public interest for Gil Vicente to abide by the body’s recent decision to relegate the club from the first division.

“This will be the next step to solve the problem. We’ll see if it’s enough,” he told reporters after a meeting with junior minister for sport, Laurentino Dias, and the head of the Portuguese League, Valentim Loureiro.

Last month the federation demoted Gil Vicente after ruling the club broke rules governing the mid-season registration of Angola midfielder Mateus.

It replaced the club in the top league with Belenenses, who had been relegated last season.

Gil Vicente then applied to a civil court to clear the player’s eligibility, contravening federation and FIFA rules and leading the federation to suspend the club from all football competitions.

Madail travelled to Zurich on Thursday to discuss the legal wrangle with FIFA, which prohibits clubs from contesting decisions by football regulatory bodies in civil courts.

Portugal’s sports media reported Friday that European body UEFA was mulling replacing FC Porto, Sporting Lisbon and Benfica in the Champions League with Italy’s Chievo, Spain’s Osasuna and the Netherland’s Ajax.

Dias said he was optimistic that the decree would resolve the problem with FIFA.

“This is not a problem of a few clubs, it is a problem for the image of the country.

“I am convinced that with this step Portuguese football will return to normal,” he told reporters.

Portugal begin their Euro 2008 qualifiers on Wednesday with a match against Finland in Helsinki. – AFP