Portuguese club's petty president suspends entire first team after Facebook criticism
Among the ways to respond to a loss, critical social media posts are far from the most extraordinary or overreactionary in sports. But the fallout from one by the president of Sporting CP – also known as Sporting Lisbon – this past week has sent one of Portugal’s most famous and successful clubs into turmoil.
It might me the wildest story in European soccer right now, and the upshot is that the third-place team in the Portuguese first division could play Sunday’s game against Pacos de Ferreira without any first-team players – because all of them are suspended.
Bruno de Carvalho, whose approval rating among fans has been high for most of his tenure as Sporting CP president, took to Facebook to air frustrations after a 2-0 Europa League quarterfinal first leg loss to Atletico Madrid on Thursday.
He called out several players by name. He accused Bas Dost and Fabio Coentrao of purposefully getting yellow cards. He criticized the performances of Sebastian Coates, Jeremy Mathieu, Fredy Montero and Gelson Martins.
Here’s the post, which is in Portuguese but can be roughly translated to English on Facebook:
In response to Carvalho’s criticism, there were reports – which Sporting has denied – that players refused to train. Instead, every member of the first team squad with a public social media profile used it to share identical messages. They expressed their “displeasure,” bemoaned Carvalho’s “lack of support,” and banded together against his public finger-pointing.
A post shared by William Carvalho (@wcarvalho14) on Apr 6, 2018 at 9:34am PDT
Carvalho’s response? To reportedly suspend every single player who posted the message – and later others who don’t have public Facebook or Instagram accounts, but who have stood in solidarity with the players who do. There are reportedly at least 19 players who have been suspended.
And Fabio Coentrao, on loan from Real Madrid, has reportedly had his loan terminated, meaning he’s no longer a Sporting player after the public fight between players and president.
All suspended players have reportedly been barred from entering the club’s training facility. So Sporting – in third place, six points back of league-leading Benfica with six matches to play – will willingly field a reserve team for Sunday’s match.
After suspending these 19 players, Sporting will only have 6 first team players available for Monday's game against Paços.
Bas Dost, the only player involved last night that doesn't have a public Instagram or Facebook account, remain the only regular starter unsuspended. pic.twitter.com/50DXnN2I1l
— Jan Hagen (@PortuBall) April 6, 2018
But there’s another problem: Sporting manager Jorge Jesus is backing the players in the dispute, and there are reports that he’ll resign if Carvalho doesn’t walk back the suspensions.
Jorge Jesus, who are backing his players and hoping for a quick solution, has no intention of playing tomorrow's game against Paços with the B team. If that were to happen, the Sporting manager will consider going to the board and asking to be released instantly. [A Bola] pic.twitter.com/C3jHFINzY0
— Jan Hagen (@PortuBall) April 7, 2018
So around 24 hours before Sunday’s game, and just days before the Europa League quarterfinal second leg, this feud, which threatens to derail the team’s seasons, has definitely not been settled.
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Henry Bushnell covers global soccer, and occasionally other ball games, for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Question? Comment? Email him at henrydbushnell@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @HenryBushnell.