By Melody Gross 
Sérgio Conceição will appeal the 15-day suspension imposed on him by the FPF Disciplinary Board – in addition to a fine of €7,650 – due to the coach’s comments at the end of the match against Belenenses SAD, on February 4, 2021, which ended in a goalless draw. The coach must attack the punishment on two fronts, as he was suspended for 21 days for insults directed at Hugo Miguel, the controversial Morerense-Porto referee (1-1), from last season.
An appeal to the entire disciplinary board is the first step, but there is no guarantee that it will be successful (in the regulations there is no rule specifying that appeals in cases of this nature necessarily have suspensive effects). As an example of what happened in the process of the match with Moreirense, Pleno de Cd, at the time, refused to appeal the 21-day sentence against the coach. Sergio Conceição then decided to go ahead with a request to rescind the suspension filed by the CD and an injunction at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAD), which allowed the sentence to be suspended. The coach served a penalty against Famalecao, but an appeal to TAD (which has yet to be judged) allowed him to be on the field in matches against Benfica (Day 31), Rio Ave (32) and Belenenses (33).
The coach was notified of the penalty yesterday, and the penalty starts from today and ends at 24. The suspension covers matches with Braga, Rio Ave (League Cup), Vezela (La Liga) and Benfica (Portugal Cup) on the 23rd.
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