FC Porto accused of match fixing

Por­tuguese cham­pi­ons FC Porto have been for­mally accused of fix­ing two domes­tic fix­tures in the 2003-04 sea­son. The games in ques­tion, against Estrela da Amadora and Beira Mar, came in the same year ex-Chelsea boss Jose Mour­inho led Porto to Cham­pi­ons League glory.

Mour­inho, who won the Cham­pi­ons League as well as the domes­tic title that sea­son before mov­ing to Chelsea, is not thought to be sub­ject of the inves­ti­ga­tion. Porto could be sub­jected to a points deduc­tion or even rel­e­ga­tion if found guilty, as well as a finan­cial penalty and strip­ping of that season’s league championship.

The 2003-04 Por­tuguese sea­son has been scru­ti­nised before. In Decem­ber 2004 Por­tuguese police raided both Porto’s offices and the home of pres­i­dent Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa as part of an inves­ti­ga­tion enti­tled “Oper­a­tion Golden Whis­tle.” At the time, lit­tle seem to come of those oper­a­tions but now it seems as though there could be a scan­dal engulf­ing one of Portugal’s biggest clubs.

Porto could be docked points from this cam­paign — in which they cur­rently lead Ben­fica by 16 points — or face rel­e­ga­tion to the sec­ond divi­sion. Jorge Pinto da Costa, the club pres­i­dent, could also face a ban of between two to 10 years if found guilty of cor­rup­tion or six months to two years for attempted corruption.