The president of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), Fernando Gomes, today highlighted the “very rich year for the national colors” and recalled the values for which the national soccer governing body strives.
“From a purely sporting point of view, we can’t fail to point out some of the achievements we’ve had over the course of a very rich year for the national colors,” he began, in a message of good wishes on the FPF’s official website.
Fernando Gomes covered events throughout the year in soccer – with the unprecedented presence in the women’s World Cup, the new men’s coach, Roberto Martínez, and the co-organization of the World Cup2030 – but also in futsal and beach soccer.
In all three sports, he highlighted the qualifying campaigns for the European Football Championship, with 10 wins in as many games, but also for the futsal and beach soccer World Cups, among other achievements.
In his message, the Portuguese top soccer official highlighted the growth of the base of the sport’s pyramid, with more than 215,000 federated players and more than 1,200 clubs and certified schools and academies.
The future promises to arrive with the “construction of phase 3 of Cidade do Futebol, which will include the new Futsal Pavilion, the headquarters of Portugal Football Scholl and the definitive facilities of Canal 11”, he added.
In closing, the president of the FPF recalled that the organization will always be far beyond the four lines of play, in values such as “transparency, the defense of the weakest and most vulnerable, the right to live in a world that respects the environment, feminism or the frontal and unyielding fight against all forms of discrimination”.
“We do not accept dishonesty, corruption, xenophobia, racism, homophobia, misogyny or any other kind of violence,” he added, justifying that the FPF, as “the most recognizable element of Portugal’s identification abroad, has to assume its social responsibilities without beating around the bush.”
