According to statistical data contained in each of the official websites of the leagues in England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Scotland and Austria, no other league had as many fouls reported per match as in Portugal.
In the total of 34 rounds and 306 games played, 8,681 offenses were recorded in the Portuguese I Liga, representing an average of 28.4 per game.
The second worst belonged to the Austrian championship, the last place in the top 10 of UEFA, which recorded 27.5 offenses per match, in a total of 5,339 fouls in 194 games, while the Belgian league comes next, with 25.2 fouls per game (7,696 in 306 games).
Conversely, the championship of the Netherlands (Eredivisie) did not even register 20 fouls on average (19.8), followed by England (Premier League), with 21.1, and Germany (Bundesliga), with 22.6.
In terms of cards, Portugal had an average of 5.6 cards shown per game, between yellow and red. In the 306 matches of the Portuguese championship, the referees showed a total of 1,606 yellow cards and 112 red cards.
La Liga (Spain), with 5.1 cards per game, and Serie A (Italy), with 4.6, appear just above the Portuguese championship.
Having watched Taça Portuguese, I'm not surprised by the figures. I thought that the playacting was the worst I've seen, and some obvious fouls went unpunished, while 'fouls' solicited by acting, were given. A very poor performance by the referee didn't help matters.
By Paul Johnson from UK on 13 Jun 2023, 11:48