Of the 87,710 members who voted in the first round of Benfica’s elections, 54,812 asked for a change of direction. 54,812 members believe that the largest associative club in the world cannot constantly lose championships to others with less social strength. It is not tolerable to have four times as many voters as your rivals and win only a quarter of the championships. More than records, Benfica needs to remember what it was. And for that you don’t need Guinness books, history books are enough.
In the second round, there is only one candidate who personifies this change: João Noronha Lopes. There are those who try to convey the idea that they do not convince Benfica fans. At the very least, it convinced more than 27,000 members in the first round, a mobilization that would guarantee victory in any other election in the history of club elections. He also convinced Benfica fans recognized for their competence to passionately join his project.
Bagão Félix, the President of the Supervisory Board, was a minister in two executives. The financial vice-president is the CEO of Pestana, that is, of the largest business group in the field of activity with the most weight in the country’s economy, while the current Minister of Economy has spent his entire career in political positions. The vice-president for Heritage is vice-CEO of Mota Engil: I think we have already had Infrastructure Ministers with a weaker CV. The president of the Board of the General Assembly was elected judge of the Constitutional Court at the age of 32 – practically Belloti’s age. With a PhD from Harvard, he is a more qualified jurist than the current President of the Assembly of the Republic, the second largest figure in the State. Noronha Lopes’ squad is not only superior to Rui Costa’s, it is capable of superior to that of the Republic government. And well, because Benfica is bigger than Portugal.
Rui Costa bet on another type of team. Despite 400 million in signings, the reinforcement that brought the most impact to Rui Costa’s mandate was Luís Bernardo, a skilled player who has already pontificated in Sporting’s defenseespecially in the tight marking of Renato Sanches. Rui Costa does not have a sports policy, but he does have politics with sports people. Volleyball lost the last five games against Sporting, so Rui Costa hired people to make headlines. The news that came out in the press during the campaign shows that, after all, Rui Costa doesn’t have that much difficulty in securing titles. Benfica is experiencing a crisis of belief, so the continuity candidacy wants to make us believe.
They want to make us believe that the candidate for change is a new Vale e Azevedo, when Noronha Lopes was on the list that expelled Vale e Azevedo from the Club and It was Rui Costa who helped to give credibility to what would become the worst president in Benfica’s history. They want to make us believe that the candidacy for change has vice-presidents who will not be there full-time, when it is Rui Costa’s list that is re-candidate a vice-president who was at the same time administrator of the SAD of União de Santarém. They want to make us believe that Noronha doesn’t even know how to manage a chain of restaurants, when it was Rui Costa who let a restaurant in Saldanha go bankrupt. They want to make us believe that there is a campaign that wants power at all costs, when it was Rui Costa’s campaign that used club resources to attack a member who asked questions. They want to make us believe that there are people in Noronha Lopes’ candidacy without defined roles, when it is Rui Costa’s list that causes embarrassment to Humberto Coelho, not telling him what functions he will have as vice-president. Each accusation, a confession.
On Saturday, Benfica fans have the opportunity to prove that no one is above Benfica. Idols do not override Sport Lisboa e Benfica’s mission: to win. To believe in Rui Costa’s failed project out of gratitude is to disregard someone who did not deserve the same condescension: Cosme Damião. The thing is, in 1926, The founder’s vision was challenged by partners who wanted change. Cosme Damião defended that the club remained amateur. Ribeiro dos Reis and Ferreira Bogalho, among others, considered this vision to be out of step with the times and proposed modernization. Concerned about debts arising from the construction of infrastructure and the loss of competitiveness compared to Lisbon rivals, the opposition defended a professional model and more complex management. In disagreement, Cosme Damião moved away from dirigisme for a few years, but the oppositionists were right. Benfica became one of the biggest clubs in the world because, in 1926, the members decided to progress. A century later, let us do the same.