In the 2005-06 season Gil Vicente fielded an ineligible player, the Angolan forward Mateus, and the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) relegated the team and reinstated Belenenses (Lisbon).
Gil Vicente has always argued that the issue was work-related and not sport-related and has pursued the case through the courts. Now the LPFP and their president Pedro Proença has to resolve how and when they re-integrate Gil Vicente into the Primeira Liga.
The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) and the LPFP could have appealed the decision to the Central Administrative Court and even to the Supreme Administrative Court but on Monday the FPF announced that they would not appeal. Pedro Proença will want an early meeting with the president of Gil Vicente to map out the way forward and agree compensation which could amount to as much as €20m.
Only two years ago Boavista (Porto) leaped two divisions back into the top flight following several judicial reviews. The famous club, they won the Primeira Liga in 2000-01, was expelled from the Primeira Liga eight years ago, for allegedly intimidating referees.
The latest controversy will test the resolve of the LPFP who are committed to reducing the size of the Primeira Liga, not increasing it.