Benfica goes to the vote on October 25th. DN challenged the six candidates for the club’s presidency for the four-year period 2025-2029, Rui Costa, Luís Filipe Vieira, João Noronha Lopes, João Diogo Manteigas, Martim Mayer and Cristóvão Carvalho, to answer the same five questions on five essential topics in the life of the club, from the priority after the election, to politics and the sports project for football, passing through the liabilities and future of the Benfica institution.
The priority of priorities, once elected is…
Unite Benfica around an ambitious and credible project, which returns the Club to its Members and ensures football wins consistently. This means creating professional, transparent and modern management, capable of strengthening the squad with discretion and retaining the talents of the formation. The absolute priority is to return Benfica to its sporting hegemony in Portugal and its regular presence among Europe’s greats.
How do you find the balance between training and the sporting demands of a club like Benfica? Training to sell or training to nurture the team and have sporting success?
Training is Benfica’s crown jewel and cannot be seen just as a source of revenue. The objective is clear: to have four starters trained at Seixal in the main team, retain the best young players for at least four years and only then sell under conditions that serve the Club. In other words, first feed the team with homegrown talent, win titles with them and, only then, at the right time, make strategic transfers. Train to win – not to sell too soon.
Benfica presented a positive result of 34.4 million euros. Liabilities dropped to 474.9 million – is this still a problem? And how do you lower it further?
Yes, it continues to be a problem. Despite the reduction, almost 475 million euros of liabilities represent a heavy inheritance. Benfica has to grow in revenue to not depend on hasty player sales. Our plan envisages doubling revenues to 450 million/year in four years and reaching 700 million/year in eight, placing the Club in the top 10 in Europe. With more rigor, new sources of revenue and efficient management, liabilities will no longer be a brake and will become a closed chapter in Benfica’s financial history.
Does José Mourinho fit into your sporting project for football? Why?
José Mourinho is not part of the project I present for Benfica. I have all the respect for his career, but I consider that his hiring was made as an electoral asset by Rui Costa and not as a structured sporting solution. Benfica needs a coach who fits into a solid, modern and long-term project. That’s why I’ve publicly stated that the name I want to lead the first team is Jürgen Klopp. I believe that Klopp meets the ideal conditions: winning mentality, top experience and ability to develop talent, aligning with our vision of a dominant Benfica in Portugal and competitive in Europe.
What will Benfica look like in the future? (A reformist measure until 2030)
The Benfica of 2030 will be a club with one million active members, among the ten biggest in Europe, with annual revenues above 700 million euros. We will have an expanded and modernized Estádio da Luz, strengthened academies and Casas Benfica in Portugal and the world, and we will be a global power, but always rooted in its identity. We will also take the lead in sustainability and social responsibility. A concrete reformist measure until 2030 will be to guarantee free television broadcasts of home games for all Members. This reinforces the pride of being a member and consolidates the Club’s connection to its base.
isaura.almeida@dn.pt
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