André Villas-Boas, the former coach of the top football team, announced his candidacy for the presidency of FC Porto this Thursday, joining businessman Nuno Lobo in the elections to the governing bodies of the club, which are due to take place in April.
“I am a candidate for the presidency of FC Porto,” said the coach, speaking at the list presentation ceremony entitled “There is only one Porto”, which took place in Alfandegue do Porto. “We will always be grateful to Pinto da Costa. but it’s time for a change.”
“Our accounts are completely out of control. “We have a club that has failed to achieve sustainability and is stuck in mindless and directionless management.”
The candidate also condemns the “lack of transparency” established within the blue and white club. Villas-Boas also criticizes the academy’s “election promise” made in 2016, which eight years later has not been realized.
“We are being overtaken by our competitors,” he adds.
“No one can freely express what they think without being censored or threatened. Fear prevails, I want to destroy the atmosphere of fear.”
Andre Villas-Boas, 46, was in charge of Porto in the 2010/11 season and won four competitions, including Portuguese League One and the Europa League, the last of seven international victories in the Blues’ history. .and whites.”
Beginning with the Academics (2009/10), his career as a manager also included England’s Chelsea (2011/12) – as the Blues won their first ever Champions League and FA Cup – and from Tottenham (2012–2013).
This was followed by experience with St. Petersburg Zenit (2014-2016), in which they won the championship, Russian Cup and Super Cup, with the Chinese from Shanghai SIPG (2016-2017) and with the French from Marseille (2019-2019). 2021), the last club he coached.
Before this journey on the bench, Andre Villas-Boas took on the role of observer at Porto, joining the technical teams of the late Englishman Bobby Robson and Jose Mourinho, with whom he also worked at Chelsea and Italian Inter, and For a short time he worked as the technical director of the British Virgin Islands national team.
The youngest coach to ever win a European competition, winner of the Golden Dragon as coach of the year in 2011, now joins Nuno Lobo, the defeated candidate in June 2020, in FC Porto’s election for the four-year period 2024-2028. the date of which will continue to be set by the President of the Council of the General Assembly (AG), José Lourenço Pinto.
Pinto da Costa, 86, has yet to say whether he will seek a 16th consecutive term while he is the leader with the most titles and longevity in world football, first elected as the 33rd president. in a story from the club in April 1982.