A WhatsApp group of captains suspended football

Like all international football, the Portuguese NOS League had to stop due to the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19. The funny thing about the story is that last Thursday the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) and the League of Clubs they made the decision after pressures received from the Union of Portuguese players, led by Joaquim Evangelista.

According to when the Portuguese newspaper Record, the captains of the main teams in Portugal went to work and through two WhatsApp groups were exchanging opinions and finally made the decision, out of responsibility, to stop the league. The news of the positive for coronavirus of the Juventus footballer. Daniele Rugani, was the wick that ended in the tournament break. The Portuguese football association had no choice, seeing the decision made by the players, of suspend the NOS League, the Second Division, as well as women's football, amateur football, the Cup championship and futsal, indefinitely.

Jardem, Pizzi and André Almeida (Benfica); Danilo (Port); Coates and Net (Sporting Portugal); Wilson Eduardo (Sporting de Braga); José Semedo (V. Setubal); Ricardo Costa (Boavista); André André (V. Guimaraes) and Tarantini (Rio Ave) were the captains who brought the singing voice to stop the competition, unconvinced with the measure of playing the games behind closed doors. Fernando Gomes, President of the FPF, and Pedro Proença, of the Leaguefinally pressured by the captains, they made a historic decision.

Pepe, Porto soccer player and former Real Madrid player, He was one of the first to thank the news: “As a player, citizen and parent, I want to thank the FPF for the decision. We made a firm decision to fight the pandemic. Prevent, prevent, prevent.”