Pedro Pichardo hopes to meet soon with Benfica president Rui Costa, suggesting that he wants to continue working at the club but without any relationship with the director of the Olympic project and red athletics Ana Oliveira.
“I hope to meet with the president Rui Costa soon. I am still here, I hope to come to Portugal and meet with the president as soon as possible and see if we can find some solution, to see if the club director will leave me alone. Ana Oliveira worries me a lot,” he accused.
The dispute between the Olympic triple jump champion and the Reds, with whom he has a contract until Los Angeles 2028, has been dragging on for months, with the athlete even refusing to accept the process of joining the Portuguese Athletics Federation, which would prevent him from being in Paris in 2024 – it is still unclear when and how this was done.
However, until this Friday, Pichardo had not been able to meet Rui Costa. “It was difficult, I think he is very busy. I don’t know how to explain it, I tried to send him messages,” he said.
Before heading to the French capital, the 31-year-old athlete received a message from the president and they agreed to meet when Pichardot returned.
“Now I hope to get to Portugal and try to meet the president and see if we can come to an agreement,” which would include finding a solution or seeing if he would be allowed to leave the club, he said.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic triple jump champion would like to continue competing in Portugal and stay with Benfica, but at the same time have better “conditions”.
“I think that, based on what I have achieved, I deserve to have a clearly defined training structure. Unfortunately, I do not have this structure. I train somewhere, I will have to leave there to find a physiotherapist, the conditions too… The Setubal Chamber is doing me a favor by providing me with the conditions, but this is also not their responsibility,” he noted.
Confirming that he wants to stay at Luz, but “obviously on better terms”, Pishardo made it a condition that there be an agreement that stipulates that Ana Oliveira will leave him “in peace”.
“I will train, I represent the club, but I have nothing to do with Benfica’s athletics director,” he stressed.
AMG/NFO // ADJO
Lusa/The End
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.