Africa-Press – Angola. The coach of FC Bravos do Maquis, Mário Soares, criticized, this Tuesday, in Luena, Moxico province, the lack of definition of the start date of the new 2023/24 football season in the country.
Speaking to the press, when the team he manages traveled to the country’s capital, where they seek to hold friendly matches to maintain control of the group, taking into account the uncertainty of the start date of Girabola 2023/24, he said that this break is causing constraints in team planning.
This interregnum, according to Mário Soares, is forcing clubs to play new friendly games, outside of what was scheduled, changing the management schedule, highlighting the clubs they represent in the country in the tournaments (1o de Agosto, Petro de Luanda, Sagrada Esperança and the Lobito Academic).
In this sense, he defended the need for the Jurisdictional Council to decide, “with a sense of urgency”, the process involving the clubs involved in an alleged case of corruption, for the start of the football season in the country.
During eight days of preparation, Bravos do Maquis will hold friendlies in the country’s capital, with the teams of 1o de Agosto B, Guelson FC and Luanda City, while in the province of Zaire, they will face São Salvador.
The opening of the 2023-24 football season was scheduled for the last day three with the Petro de Luanda- Académica do Lobito game, for the Supertaça, while Girabola would start twelve days later (15).
However, due to a directive from the Disciplinary Council of the Angolan Football Federation (FAF) that punished Petro, Académica do Lobito, Kabuscorp do Palanca and 1.o de Agosto following an alleged case of corruption, the competition did not start.
At this moment, despite the temporary decriminalization, the clubs are waiting for the appeal presented to the Jurisdictional Council of the governing body of national football, with Petro fighting a two-year suspension from its main football team.
Kabuscorp do Palanca and Académica do Lobito are appealing for a penalty of relegation, while 1.o de Agosto paid a fine in UCF (value of the Fiscal Correction Unit) converted into kwanza.
The embroglio, considered the first major case of corruption in national football, was triggered by the leak of an audio in which the coach of Académica do Lobito, Agostinho Tramagal, commented on a triple negotiation.
He said in the audio that he received amounts in kwanzas from Petro de Luanda and Kabuscorp do Palanca to falsify results and that he denied an attempt by 1.o de Agosto for the same effect.
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