Corruption in Portuguese football

In 2004, the case of the 'golden whistle' burst onto the Portuguese football scene with allegations of influence peddling. Since then the sports pages have been regularly fed with cases of suspected paybacks, threats and corruption. Daniel Oliveira responds to the appointment last week of the prosecutor Maria José Morgado, in charge of further investigation into the case of the 'golden whistle'. "We have tolerated a lot of things from our sports leaders. They threaten journalists, finance groups of hooligans organised into clubs of supporters, buy local members of parliament and siphon off the most public money possible. Insolent and contemptuous, they are not the least bit afraid of the justice system. … If this case gets lost in the tortuous meanders of our justice system, we will have to draw the conclusion that we are living Sicily and do what Sicilians do: emigrate. Since last Thursday, there remains one hope: Maria José Morgado.”

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