"We must, once and for all, assume that without a fast sports justice that is able to respond to the demands of a highly professional football, we cannot have a response capacity to what our needs are. This architecture must be quickly and drastically changed, under penalty of discrediting what sports instances are", said Pedro Proença, on the sidelines of the 1st Congress of Sports Justice, which takes place today and Friday, in Lisbon.

The leader of the LPFP recalled the "scope of the congress", promoted by the Sports Arbitration Court (TAD), but admitted that there is some disagreement regarding football.

"Regarding football in particular, the truth is that somehow it does not respond to what the requests are and what we intended regarding the result of the sports effect", he said.

Pedro Proença considered that "procedural speed should be one of the bastions of support for the credibility of a sector", adding: "Regarding football, somehow, we are dissatisfied with what has been happening. The response capacity, the way we have final decisions on the matters that are in litigation, in this architecture that we have and in this current model, does not respond.

The leader of the League said that the body that manages professional football in Portugal has been doing its job in this area, regretting that there are delays in the final responses.

"In the Portuguese Professional Football League we have been doing our job. We have professionalized everything that has to do with the investigation of the processes themselves. We managed to reduce, and a lot, the entire procedural phase that was over 90 days. Today, everything that is the investigation phase is qualified in little more than 15 days. But the truth is that then the final responses and the accumulation of decisions that do not have their final processing do not help. They do not help what the response capacity is", he said.

Recalling that in international bodies such as FIFA and UEFA "the processes are almost summary", Proença asked the Government to get involved in the process: "An immediate reflection is necessary, and that the political power realizes that there must be an intervention, so that the response capacity is a reality. We cannot have processes with immense delays".

"When the Sports Arbitration Court was created, it was created as a final instance. And the truth is that its unconstitutionality led to the appeals being able to be made, potentiated, which makes the final decision very difficult", he added.

With almost 10 years of existence, the TAD intends for the 1st Congress of Sports Justice to serve to promote the exchange of knowledge, experiences and good practices in the scope of the various levels and manifestations of sports justice, favoring reflection and dialogue on issues related to the legal-sports system, contributing to the study, evolution and dissemination of Sports Law.

The opening session of the event, which takes place at the Lisbon Law School, was attended by Pedro Dias, Secretary of State for Sports, who considered the congress "the right time" to reflect and highlighted the Government's commitment to the areas of sports justice, fairness, impartiality and respect.