This evening, the Security Forces Platform, which is leading the demonstrations demanding improved salary conditions, criticized the Football Association, calling on it to be cautious, and remembering that football is not above legitimacy.
The platform's statement comes after a Saturday that witnessed, in football, the postponement of the match between Famalicao and Sporting, due to the lack of security conditions, as the police officers who were supposed to work in the stadium presented a medical certificate, while others gave the PSP called the specialists and claimed unhealthy conditions.
The Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP) called on the government, “and in particular the Minister of Internal Administration, to urgently initiate an investigation, in order to determine responsibility for what happened, in defense of the fans and the families.”
The Minister of Internal Administration, José Luis Carneiro, announced on Saturday evening that he had requested an investigation, and called for a meeting with senior managers of the Progressive Socialist Party and the National Guard this morning.
The platform of the Progressive Socialist Party unions and the National Guard associations considers the situation strange, noting that there was only silence on the part of the government after the demonstrations in which thousands of policemen and guards participated, and the vigils in different parts of the country, which is not happening now when there is There was no football match “for health reasons”.
Regarding the League's request for an investigation, the platform says that absences “are or will be duly approved by health professionals, and the Football Association should not comment on health issues.”
“The Portuguese League must act wisely, respect the legal framework, and avoid inflammatory speech, which may put health workers and the police themselves at risk. The Portuguese League must realize that football is not above legality or any other restrictions,” the statement said. The Association and other responsible entities should refrain from making comments that show a complete lack of knowledge about the extent of the problem.”
The platform of the Progressive Socialist Party unions and the National Guard associations states that on Friday they sent a letter to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Internal Administration, warning that the police have reached their limit, “and are highly capable of taking extreme positions, such as those developing throughout the country.”
He warned that the platform “is not in a position to deal with all these situations that will reach undesirable proportions for everyone.”
In a statement tonight, the platform found it strange that the Prime Minister did not receive the letter, as Antonio Costa's office said on Saturday.
Members of the Progressive Socialist Party and the General National Government are demanding an annex similar to that granted to the Judicial Police, having participated in protests for more than three weeks that began with a Progressive Socialist Party agent spending the night in front of the Assembly of the Republic, in Lisbon, and which later expanded to include the whole country.
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