According to the Portuguese coach, who since September 2019 has been guiding the 'black teams', all the pros and cons have been pondered by the Girabola clubs and the Angolan Football Federation's management for "safeguarding life and health".
"I am pleased to hear that there was a great deal of support from the clubs to decide what future to give to Girabola and there was unanimity and that is very important because these are decisions that involve many professionals and the short-term future of these and teams," he said in an interview with Lusa.
However, the coach also expressed concern about the contractual situation of all players in the league, especially players whose contracts expire in May.
"And now the question arises of how they will continue their professional duties," he noted, stating that these assumptions "are determining for the maintenance of their lives.
For Pedro Gonçalves, 44, the post-pandemic contractual issue "is worrying", but he considered that "one has to ponder and see what is most important, and the most important is life and health".
Angolan clubs unanimously decided on Thursday to annul Girabola, which was interrupted in March due to the covid-19 pandemic, mainly to "safeguard health and the heavy spending on athletes whose contracts expire in May".
The decision of the 15 clubs that militate in Girabola was presented during a meeting with the Angolan Football Federation (FAF) that analysed the break of the competition after the 25th day.
According to a spokesman for the clubs at the meeting, Tomás Faria, two main reasons led the teams to decide in consensus by the end of this season of the championship, namely the cautions surrounding the pandemic and the issue of athletes' contracts.
The Portuguese coach, who praises the government measures to contain the spread of covid-19 in the country, stresses that the cancellation of Girabola has "many sporting implications", especially for athletes who "must be disciplined.
"They must also maintain their physical activity plan, in accordance with the constraints of being at home, seek to safeguard food issues so that losses are minimised with a view to the return of the competition," he said.
But, he recalled, "there will be time to resume the competitions the most important thing per hour is health".
In relation to the Angolan national team, which in March saw the qualifying matches for the African Nations Championship (CAN2021) cancelled due to the pandemic, Pedro Gonçalves regretted the situation, recalling that the players "were in good sportsmanship".
"We were all ready for competition and for those games, but once again we understand the circumstances, but the work continues. We continue daily to prepare the next competitions, even if we don't know the dates", he stressed.
Even without a time horizon for the return of competitions, Pedro Gonçalves and his team continue to work on planning and administrative preparation "so that some players can be available for the selection in the short term".
"We have a lot of players still to watch and we continue to do it via video, we have our meetings online and by phone and the work does not stop", he pointed out.
Connected to the FAF until the conclusion of the qualification phase to the World Cup 2022, in Qatar, the Portuguese coach still believes that the economic difficulties of Angola, also due to the pandemic, will be overcome as soon as possible.
"And that soon we are focused on the competition that is working and pulling for the selection," he said.
