Preparations announced for 2017-18 campaign

26th of June 2017
– Start of programme at the Sporting Academy

7th of July 2017
– Friendly match:
Sporting CP-FC Os Belenenses (Estádio do Algarve)

10th to 18th of July 2017
– Tour in Switzerland

Friendly matches in Switzerland
12th of July 2017 - Sporting CP – Fenerbahçe - Location: Renens – 20:30
13th of July 2017 - Sporting CP – CF Valencia – Location: Martigny – 20:30
15th of July 2017 - Sporting CP – FC Basel – Location: Portalban – 19:00
18th of July 2017 - Sporting Cp – Marseille – Lication: Annecy (France) – 20:00

22th of July 2017
– Presentation match
Sporting CP-TBC

TBC:
– Possibility of another friendly.

29th of July 2017
– Five Violins Trophy
Sporting CP – TBC – Estádio José Alvalade

Jefferson and Ricardo Esgaio

Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol, SAD has reached an agreement with Sporting Clube de Braga – Futebol, SAD for the temporary loan of Jefferson and the permanent transfer of Ricardo Esgaio, with Sporting CP maintaining 20% of the player's economic rights.

Sporting SAD wishes Jefferson and Ricardo Esgaio the best of personal and professional success.

Rodrigo Battaglia

Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol, SAD has reached an agreement with Sporting Clube de Braga – Futebol, SAD for the permanent transfer of the player Rodrigo Battaglia. The player has signed a contract valid for 5 seasons, with a release clause of 60,000,000.00€.

Sporting SAD wishes Rodrigo Battaglia the best of professional and personal success.

Rúben Semedo

Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol, SAD has reached an agreement with Villarreal Club de Fútbol for the permanent transfer of the athlete Rúben Semedo. the agreement is worth 14,000,000.00€, with Sporting SAD also remaining with a 20% sell-on clause.

Sporting SAD wishes Rúben Semedo the best of personal and professional success.

Fernando Santos includes Alvalade five for Confederations Cup

The national team coach Fernando Santos has included a total of five Sporting CP players in his squad of 24 for the coming friendly, World Cup qualifier and Confederations Cup fixtures.

The five are Rui Patrício, Beto, William Carvalho, Adrien Silva and Gelson Martins, who will face Cyprus on the 3rd of June (friendly) and Lithuania (World Cup qualifier), before travelling to Russia for the Confederations Cup.

Refereeing Council vice-president João Ferreira in session with the media on the Video Assistant Referee

The Portuguese Football Federation hosted a questions and answer session with the press this week on the Video Assistant Referee, set to be introduced into Portuguese professional football (Liga NOS).

João Ferreira was on hand to explain the technology: "We don't want the Video Assistant Referee to be involved a lot, but when it does then it must benefit the game as much as possible." The system will be focused on four areas: goals (all goals will be analysed), penalties, direct red cards (red cards for two bookable offences will not be included) and the erroneous identification of a payer.

All stadiums will be linked up to an operations centre hosted in Portugal's City of Football, with the capacity to analyse four matches simultaneously by a team of 22 assistants.

"The idea is for things to carry on as normal, but knowing that everything is being looked at. The referee will ask for assistance (by signalling the shape of a rectangle in the air, in the shape of a television) and the players or coaches cannot interfere in the decision. Players or coaches cannot ask for a situation to be reviewed", explained João Ferreira.

The system will debut in the Portuguese Cup final, ahead of its full implementation for the 2017/18 Liga NOS season.

Alvalade keeper's Euro 2016 heroics immortalised

Leiria paid a moving tribute to Rui Patrício this week, unveiling a statue in tribute to one of the city's heroes. The moment forever captured is Patricío's Euro 2016 in Paris against Griezmann, crafted into a statue standing six metres tall and weighing in at four tonnes.

The statue is courtesy of the Portuguese businessman Carlos Matos, who declared during the final: "If Rui doesn't let in a single goal, I will make him a statue." Patrício was visibly moved by the tribute, affirming: "Leiria is with me when I am on the pitch. I represent my city and I try to do my best for them. I am really happy. I want this to serve as an example for young people who want to reach the top of whatever area they go into. Fight for your dreams, because it is with it."

Jorge Jesus on final day win

"We wanted to finish with a win and the fans came out for us again. I thought the lads were great today and found it easy to score", said Jorge Jesus after his side's 4-1 win against Chaves this Sunday.

Despite the win, Jesus saw this as a time for reflection on what was a tough season: "We finished with 70 points, which is 16 less than last season."

The Alvalade coach also took a moment to focus on two of his star performers: "Gelson used to be a very individual player, but now he gets involved with the rest of the team. He has really developed tactically throughout the season. We were hoping Bas Dost would win the Golden Boot, but Messi can score every which way. However it was a really important season for him and for Sporting CP."

Bas Dost hattrick secures final-day victory

Sporting CP emphatically dismissed two recent defeats with a demolition of Chaves (4-1) this Sunday, on the final day of this season's Liga NOS campaign. Of course it was Bas Dost who did the damage, bagging yet another hattrick on an evening that also saw Matheus Pereira find the back of the net.

Alvalade's Dutch hitman showed signs of what was to come after just three minutes, with an attempted backheel that the Chaves keeper managed to deny. Sporting CP continued to push the pace and Chaves struggled, resorting to some heavy tackles in an attempt to break up the play. On 10 minutes Podence was brought crashing down in the area by Ponck and Dost stepped up for the conversion from 12 yards.

The narrowest of leads that really didn't last long, because Sporting CP's number 28 was at it again after quarter of an hour with a towering header to make it 2-0. Another 15 minutes later Matheus Pereira also got his name on the scoresheet after some brilliant work by the in-form Gelson Martins.

With the result virtually in the back Jorge Jesus' side slowed the pace after the break, while Chaves looked to find a consolation. Jefferson hammered a shot against the bar on the 52 minute, but it was the visitors who struck when Willian converted on a cross from Lenho.

A balanced last half an hour followed, with the odd chance at both ends, before Bas Dost rounded off what has been a brilliant season with his 34th goal of the campaign.

Jorge Jesus on the last game of the campaign

The last match of the season, the 2017/18 campaign and the coming transfer window were the three main topics covered by Jorge Jesus in this Saturday's pre-match press conference. While keeping the focus on winning the three points on Liga NOS matchday 34, the Alvalade coach also dismissed rumours on his relationship with president Bruno de Carvalho.

"This is the last game of a season that hasn't gone how we wanted it to. Our last game wasn't how we wanted it to be either. We are on the back of two loses and the atmosphere isn't great now, but we want to end this season with a win for the fans. We want to finish on a good note and turn our attention to next season", opened Jesus, who is already looking ahead to a series of preparatory meetings with Bruno de Carvalho: "We have ideas to talk about and we are working on them. What we want next season is one that is like my first here. A team that fights tooth and nail for the title. That is what we are looking to build and that is what we will be talking about."

To finish Jorge Jesus proved puzzled in relation to interest in Adrien, William Carvalho and Rui Patrício: "I honestly don't know anything about what is being said in the press. They are all important players for us, they are Euro 2016 winners and they are central to our project. We have grown in terms of developing our players and losing one of them wouldn't be complete unexpected."