SC Braga immediately dismisses women's futsal team coach over prohibited betting
Sporting Clube de Braga has terminated its cooperation with Pedro Pedroso, the coach of its senior women's futsal team, after the disciplinary body of the Portuguese Football Federation determined that he had participated in sports betting during the 2025/26 season. According to details of the decision published by Portuguese media on 21 July 2026, Pedroso placed at least 33 bets on official matches under the auspices of the Portuguese Football Federation and Liga Portugal. Six bets concerned matches involving SC Braga, while at least one was connected to a match played by the Portuguese national team. The coach was handed a two-month suspension and a fine of 612 euros, after which the Braga-based club relieved him of his duties with immediate effect.
SC Braga's decision followed immediately after the disciplinary proceedings were made public. In a statement carried by Portuguese sports media, the club said Pedroso had breached the legal and regulatory obligations associated with his position. The management also stressed that it expects all club representatives to behave in accordance with the principles of sporting ethics, transparency and the integrity of competitions. The statement did not disclose details of the contractual separation, nor did it name a new coach for the women's futsal team. The public was informed that the decision to terminate the cooperation had taken effect immediately.
At least 33 bets during the 2025/26 season
According to the reasoning behind the disciplinary decision reported by Jornal de Notícias, O Jogo, Record and A Bola, the disputed bets were placed from 1 July 2025 until the disciplinary charge was filed. They covered outcomes or events in official matches organised by the Portuguese Football Federation and the professional league, while Pedroso was registered during that period as the head coach of SC Braga's senior women's futsal team. The disciplinary body concluded that he had acted freely, knowingly and voluntarily and that he was required to be familiar with the obligations applying to registered sports professionals. The decision placed particular emphasis on protecting the transparency, fairness, loyalty and credibility of sporting competition.
The figure of 33 bets was stated as the minimum confirmed number, meaning that the disciplinary decision was not formulated as a definitive overview of all possible activity on the betting account, but rather as a collection of actions sufficient to establish responsibility. Portuguese media that had access to the details of the ruling also reported that none of the recorded bets was successful. That circumstance, however, does not alter the nature of the violation itself. Integrity rules do not depend on whether a sports professional made a profit, but on the fact that the person participated in betting on competitions about which, due to their position, they may possess additional knowledge or in relation to which there is an actual or apparent conflict of interest.
The case is made particularly serious by the fact that six bets concerned matches involving SC Braga. According to details of the ruling published by A Bola, the recorded examples included bets on Braga to win a futsal match against Benfica on 9 December 2025 and a match against Leões de Porto Salvo on 7 March 2026. The available information does not state that Pedroso bet against Braga, but the regulatory prohibition does not depend on the selected outcome. Merely participating in betting on matches involving one's own club raises the issue of a conflict of interest and undermines the trust that sporting organisations seek to protect.
At least one bet also concerned a match played by the Portuguese national team. Publicly available media summaries of the disciplinary decision did not specify which match was involved, the amounts of the individual stakes or the betting operator through which the bets were placed. The total amount wagered by the coach during the period under review was also not published. Consequently, the available information does not allow an assessment of the financial scale of the betting activity. What is officially relevant is that the disciplinary body established repeated conduct over the course of one competitive season.
Two-month suspension and a fine of 612 euros
The disciplinary sanction consists of a two-month suspension and a fine of 612 euros. Under the regulations of the Portuguese Football Federation, a time-limited suspension generally prevents a sports professional from carrying out a sporting role in competitions falling under the federation's disciplinary jurisdiction. The precise enforcement of the penalty depends on the date of official notification, the competition calendar and the rules governing the calculation of suspensions between seasons. The club's decision to terminate the cooperation immediately is separate from the federation's sanction: the federation determines disciplinary responsibility, while the club independently decides whether a person may retain the entrusted role following such proceedings.
The publicly released summaries of the ruling do not indicate that Pedroso was accused of match-fixing, influencing players or manipulating a result. The proceedings concerned prohibited sports betting and a breach of the obligations arising from his status as a coach registered with the federation. This distinction is important because betting by a sports professional and the manipulation of a competition are not the same disciplinary offence. Nevertheless, betting prohibitions exist precisely to reduce the risk of using privileged information, concealed interests and doubts about the impartiality of competition participants.
There is no publicly confirmed information about a criminal investigation, indictment or court proceedings connected with this case. It has also not been announced whether Pedroso intends to appeal the disciplinary decision. Until such information is officially confirmed, the case should be considered within the limits of the published sporting disciplinary decision and the club's termination of cooperation. The sanction of 612 euros and a two-month suspension is a measure imposed by the competent body within the Portuguese football system.
Why sporting regulations treat betting by sports professionals strictly
The regulations of the Portuguese Football Federation expressly classify coaches among the sports professionals to whom disciplinary obligations apply. One of their purposes is to sanction breaches of rules connected with sporting ethics and the protection of the regularity of competitions. The regulations distinguish between several possible situations, ranging from merely participating in betting to using privileged information, attempting to influence events during a match or directly manipulating a result. In Pedroso's case, publicly available information confirms a sanction for betting but provides no basis for claiming that manipulation was established.
A coach has access to information that is often unavailable to the general public: the coach may know the players' health condition, planned rotations, tactical changes, disciplinary issues, levels of fatigue and circumstances inside the dressing room. Even when no confidential information is used, betting by a member of the coaching staff can create the impression that the person's private financial interest is not completely separate from the sporting outcome. This is precisely why integrity protection organisations emphasise the importance of preventing not only proven harm but also situations capable of undermining public trust. The credibility of results rests on the belief that players, coaches, referees and other official participants do not have a concealed interest connected with the betting market.
Disciplinary rules in sport may therefore be stricter than the general rules applying to citizens. Betting on a legal market is not necessarily unlawful in itself for an adult, but a registered sports professional accepts additional professional obligations. Their freedom to participate in the betting market is restricted by the rules of the organisation under whose licence they work. A breach of those rules can lead to suspension, a financial penalty, loss of employment and long-term reputational damage, even when there is no evidence of match-fixing.
Pedroso managed Braga in the second national league
Official SC Braga announcements confirm that Pedro Pedroso managed the senior women's futsal team during the 2025/26 season, in which the team competed in Portugal's Second National League. At the beginning of preparations in August 2025, the club announced that Pedroso would remain in charge of the squad, and during the season he appeared regularly in the club's match previews. As recently as June 2026, he gave statements ahead of the final rounds of the championship phase, showing that he continued to have an active sporting role until the end of the competitive year. His sudden departure therefore raises an organisational issue regarding the team's preparations for the new season.
The club has not yet publicly announced who will take charge of the team or whether the existing coaching staff will be temporarily reorganised. Such decisions usually involve selecting a new head coach, planning preparations, defining the playing squad and aligning objectives for the next competition. For the players, the case comes at a sensitive stage between two seasons, when training programmes and the team roster are being shaped. Nevertheless, there is no indication that the disciplinary decision is directed against the team, the players or the results achieved by the women's futsal side.
Through its response, SC Braga sought to clearly separate the coach's individual responsibility from the identity of the club and its team. The statement focused on institutional standards rather than a sporting assessment of Pedroso's work. Such an approach is common in integrity-related cases because clubs seek to demonstrate that a regulatory violation is unacceptable regardless of results on the field. The immediate termination of cooperation sends the message that a federation disciplinary sanction may also have immediate employment-related or contractual consequences within a sporting organisation.
The case is unrelated to the football team or the tie against Železničar
It is important to distinguish the women's futsal team from SC Braga's professional men's football team. Pedroso was not the coach of the football team that plays on a full-sized pitch, and the disciplinary proceedings relate to his position in women's futsal. There is no available information connecting this case to the players, coaching staff or management of the football team. The only connection is that they belong to the same multi-sport club.
This distinction is particularly important because of SC Braga's European schedule. According to official UEFA information, Braga's men's football team will visit Železničar from Pančevo on 22 July 2026 in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League, while the return leg is scheduled for 30 July in Portugal. The disciplinary decision against Pedro Pedroso does not concern that tie, the European competition or any person registered for the match in Pančevo. Linking the two news stories without a clear distinction could wrongly suggest that the European match is under suspicion, for which there is no confirmation whatsoever.
Nor does the fact that some of the bets concerned matches involving SC Braga automatically mean that they were connected to the men's football team or European qualifying matches. The publicly released details mention various official competitions organised by the FPF and Liga Portugal, but the complete list of all matches was not published in a form that would permit such categorisation. It is therefore accurate to state only what has been established: the coach of the women's futsal team bet on at least six matches involving the club for which he worked. Any broader claims would require additional official information.
Integrity remains a broader issue for clubs and federations
The case in Braga demonstrates that the integrity protection system does not cover only the highest level of professional football. The rules also apply to futsal, women's competitions, lower national leagues and coaching staffs operating outside the greatest media attention. The growth of the sports betting market has increased the need to educate players, coaches and other officials about which activities are prohibited. The key message is not only that no one may influence a result, but also that every personal interest capable of calling the impartiality of a competition into question must be avoided.
For SC Braga, the immediate priority will be to appoint new leadership for the women's futsal team and stabilise preparations for the next season. For Pedro Pedroso, the consequences include a federation suspension, a financial penalty and the loss of his coaching position. Any further steps, including an appeal, a new professional engagement after the sanction expires or additional federation decisions, have not yet been officially announced. Until then, the club's message remains in force that the conduct established in the disciplinary proceedings is not considered compatible with the principles the club requires of its representatives.
Sources:
- O Jogo – club statement on the immediate termination of cooperation and basic information about the sanction (link)
- Jornal de Notícias – summary of the disciplinary decision, number of bets and references to matches involving SC Braga and the Portuguese national team (link)
- A Bola – details of individual bets, the betting period and the outcomes of the recorded betting slips (link)
- Record – amount of the fine, duration of the suspension and the disciplinary body's reasoning concerning the conscious breach of obligations (link)
- Portuguese Football Federation – Disciplinary Regulations for the 2025/26 season and provisions concerning sports professionals, suspensions, ethics and the protection of integrity (link)
- SC Braga – official announcement on the beginning of the women's futsal team's preparations for the 2025/26 season under Pedro Pedroso (link)
- SC Braga – statement by Pedro Pedroso ahead of the final round of the 2025/26 season, confirming his active role until the end of the competitive year (link)
- UEFA – official schedule for the tie between Železničar from Pančevo and SC Braga's men's football team in the Conference League (link)