<![CDATA[ Governo contrata antiga diretora suspensa na FPF ]]>

The Secretary of State for Sport has appointed a former director of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) to his office, after leaving the organization this year after being removed from her duties. Rute Soares and three other directors were suspended in March by the FPF board following police searches as part of Operation 'Mais-Valia'. President Pedro Proença was dissatisfied with the explanations given regarding the deal involving the former headquarters and decided to suspend the four directors, although none of them have been implicated in the judicial investigation to date.

Even before the charges were issued, on April 29th the FPF announced that it had terminated its relationship with the directors in question. Three months later, Rute Soares was hired, "based on her academic and professional qualifications," by the Secretary of State for Sports, her former colleague at the FPF. Pedro Dias was executive director for futsal when Rute Soares was Director of Integrity and Compliance, with Fernando Gomes at the helm of the FPF.

As a specialist technician, Rute Soares, who has a law degree and has had her membership with the Portuguese Bar Association suspended at her request, will receive a monthly salary of nearly four thousand euros. According to the order published in the Official Gazette last Tuesday, which takes effect on July 8th, she is also authorized to "carry out training and research activities in the area of ethics and integrity compliance"—an area in which she has completed several training courses and has published bibliography—and to "perform the functions of ethics and disciplinary inspector for UEFA and FIFA."

DETAILS

Suspicions in Operation 'Mais-Valia'

Undue receipt of benefits, corruption, economic participation in business dealings, and tax fraud are the crimes being investigated in the sale of the former FPF headquarters, with suspected kickbacks. António Gameiro, a former Socialist Party representative, and Paulo Lourenço, the former FPF secretary-general, are the defendants.

Proença accused of 'cleaning'

Pedro Proença's critics believe he took advantage of Operation Mais-Valia to remove four directors trusted by former FPF president Fernando Gomes. A source close to Proença denies the accusation and states that the quartet did not provide "convincing" explanations for this and other situations detected within the federation.