FC Porto’s election candidate Andre Villas-Boas expressed concern this Thursday about the possibility of a “significant loss of value” if the club does not qualify for the Champions League next year.
“This is a huge problem. We are talking about a significant loss of value, about 40 million euros.” [a diferença] between the Champions League and the Europa League. FC Porto is in a limited operational situation as its treasury relies on advance revenue to carry out its day-to-day operations. We are wasting no time in establishing prospecting contacts for new commercial partnerships,” the candidate said on the sidelines of the presentation of the three names to the SAD executive committee.
Porto are currently in third place in Liga I when the championship qualifies the first two, currently Sporting and Benfica, for next year’s Champions League.
The candidate said the club “must focus on finishing well and dream of winning the Portuguese Cup”, a tournament in which it is in the semi-finals and which will qualify for the Europa League.
On the other hand, he regretted the “lack of response from Porto to questions” about the partner announced by the current management led by Pinto da Costa, a partner who hopes to “be elite” in terms of ability to help the club.
“These deals were made just days before the election, we are very sorry,” he criticized, before highlighting the current president’s “historic” legacy.
Villas-Boas was also concerned about some operational problems related to the April 27 elections, namely the lack of people, according to an internal call within the FC Porto group, to preside over the polling stations, as well as “with supervision and delegates, superdelegates.” .
In addition, the former coach denied the names of candidates put forward in the press for the post of technical management of the club, including the Italian Gianpiero Gasperini, and did not confirm that the sports director would be the Spaniard Andoni Zubizarreta, although he recalled that he worked with him. and held in the former goalkeeper’s “greatest respect and exaltation”.
This Thursday, Villas-Boas presented three names to the executive committee, with the area of business and international expansion to be handed over to Thiago Madureira, chief executive of the Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP) between 2020 and 2023.
João Borges, for his part, will be responsible for operational activities, based on his resume, noted by the Port of Aveiro Authority, and professional experience, among others, at Deloitte and Banco Carregosa.
The Department of Legal Affairs and International Relations is transferred to José Luis Andrade, the current legal adviser of the European Club Association (ECA), who also worked in FIFA’s legal department and served as a staff lawyer at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In addition to these three names, SAD’s executive committee, headed by Villas-Boas, includes chief financial officer José Pedro Pereira da Costa.
In the elections to the governing bodies of FC Porto for the four-year period 2024–2028. There are three candidates, led by Pinto da Costa (list A), Andre Villas-Boas (B), a former coach of the football team, and Nuno Lobo. (C), businessman and professor, also included in the independent list of the Supreme Council headed by Miguel Bras da Cunha (D).
The election event will take place on April 27 from 9:00 to 20:00 at the Dragao Stadium in Porto, while Pinto da Costa serves his 15th consecutive term, giving him the status of manager with the most titles and longevity in the world football.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.