National Football Managers Association condemns Braga's "farcical" decision to appoint Custodio as manager

The National Association of Football Coaches (ANTF) has strongly criticised the appointment of former Portugal international Custodio as manager of SC Braga.

ANTF, the Portuguese body for football managers, has released a statement condemning in the strongest terms the hiring of the former Portugal international as head coach, calling the decision “a farce”.

Custodio, who was chosen to be the successor of Sporting-bound Ruben Amorim, has only obtained his Level 1 coaching license, the lowest qualification a football manager is able to obtain, making him even less qualified than his predecessor, who only has the Level 2 badge.

The lack of licenses means that Custodio isn’t even allowed to officially be named as assistant manager on match days in the Primeira Liga, with head coach and assistant required to, between them, hold, at minimum, a Level 4 and Level 2 qualification.

Braga will therefore have to be creative to simply get Custodio, officially their manager, onto the touchline for fixtures, naming him as a 3rd assistant or a delegate on matchdays to ensure he is in the dugout.

In their statement, ANTF said: “The constant breaches of the law and regulations of the Portuguese league are striking, and in this case, the coach in question doesn’t even have qualifications that permit him to be an assistant manager in the Primeira Liga.”

They went on to say that the hiring of Custodio showed a “repeated disregard and disrespect towards the Secretary of State for Youth and Sports, as well as towards the Portuguese Football Federation, the league itself and to clubs that abide by the laws and regulations.”

What the repercussions of this decision will be with regards to SC Braga remains to be seen.