…and now Porto are faced with accusations of attempting to influence referees. Reuters reports:
‘The chairman of European champions Porto was charged on Tuesday with five crimes stemming from an investigation into alleged attempts to influence referees, Portuguese media reported.
‘A judge charged Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa with two counts of active sports corruption, two of influence-trafficking and one of qualified falsification of documents, Lusa news agency, SIC television and RTP state TV reported.
‘Pinto da Costa was questioned for 12 hours at a courthouse in Gondomar, a Porto suburb about 200 miles north of Lisbon.
‘Pinto da Costa must pay bail of $167,774.19 and report periodically to police. He must remain in the Porto area and is barred from contact with other suspects and football officials, the reports said.
‘He is the highest-level suspect in the police investigation into alleged soccer corruption, dubbed "Golden Whistle."’