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Banned Portuguese players suspended, federation fined
Posted: Sunday July 02, 2000 10:07 AM
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- UEFA on Sunday suspended three Portuguese players for a combined total of almost two years from UEFA competitions and imposed a heavy fine on the federation for attacks on the match officials at the end of their Euro 2000 semifinal loss to France. Defender Abel Xavier, who handled the ball which led to an overtime "golden goal" penalty, was suspended for nine months international play and top scorer Nuno Gomes, who received a red card for protesting the penalty decision, was slapped with an eight-month suspension by UEFA's disciplinary committee. Paulo Bento, who verbally accosted the match officials, was suspended for six months. The fine was a total 175,000 Swiss francs (US$107,000) for the federation which will organize the next European championships in 2004. FIFA is expected to adopt the penalties too, in which case the suspensions will coincide with the opening games of the Portuguese qualifying campaign for the 2002 World Cup, robbing the team of three natural starters. "I'm deeply shocked and disappointed. I didn't expect a punishment of this nature," Xavier told Lisbon radio TSF. "I reiterate that I did nothing wrong. The footage is available and people can watch it." The suspension "does great damage to my career, because at the moment, there were clubs which were interested in me, clubs which are involved in European competitions," said Xavier who plays in England for Everton. The suspensions also apply to Champions League and UEFA Cup games, officials said. Paulo Bento was considering moving to Sporting Lisbon, which plays in next season's Champions League. The Portuguese federation can appeal until Wednesday. "The referees were pushed and harassed by Portuguese players, suffering bruises and scratches of some consideration," UEFA said in a statement on last Wednesday's match. After the decisive penalty in the semifinal, Portuguese players were furious, blasted the referee, and his assistant who first spotted the handball, for the penalty that sent them out of Euro 2000 in a 2-1 overtime loss to France. "Almost all the Portuguese players ran towards the assistant referee, who was pushed and insulted. An unidentified Portuguese player spat at him," the UEFA statement said. "Nuno Gomes gave the referee a violent push in the chest and Abel Xavier grabbed him by the arm. The referee then showed the red card to Nuno Gomes, whereupon Paulo Bento tried to take the red card from him by grabbing his arm," the statement said. Some Portuguese players suggested they were victims of a plot to ensure the big names of European soccer, such as France, made the final. "We are a small country that many people don't want to see in the final," Luis Figo told reporters after the match. "We've kept our dignity, but we're going home and the others are staying. UEFA must be very happy." The Portuguese were outraged when the linesman persuaded Austrian referee Guenter Benko to award a penalty after the ball bounced off the arm of Xavier in extra time. Zinedine Zidane converted the spot kick, and under the golden goal rule, Portugal was out. Rui Costa also saw dark machinations. "There were people who said the final had been planned for France and the Netherlands from the start, that that was why they were in the same group, when you see something like this, you start to believe it," the brilliant midfielder said at the time. Nuno Gomes was shown a red card after the final whistle for hurling his shirt at the officials and accosting the referee. Three days after Portuguese players condemned UEFA after they lost a Euro 2000 semifinal over a disputed penalty, Portugal's candidate for a UEFA executive committee position withdrew. Gilberto Parca Madail explained it was because he had too much work to do organizing the next Euros in 2004 in Portugal and denied the controversy affected his decision. "No, not at all. It had nothing to do with it," he said Saturday.
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