Podcast
Rui Costa guaranteed that he left Benfica better than he found it. But Vieira, in this interview with the podcast “Ontem Já Era Tarde”, did not remain silent: he contested the praise, pointed out numbers and accused his successor of “personal promotion”. Listen to the episode here
Benfica’s president, Rui Costa, argues that the club is better today than the one he inherited four years ago, when previous president Luís Filipe Vieira left office. But Vieira does not agree and presents numbers that, according to him, contradict the current leader.
“It is clear that Benfica is much worse and the numbers show it. But I understand that Rui says that, because someone told him to say it, as he does not have the capacity to analyze the accounts”, he stated.
The former president explains: “We left Benfica with a debt of €100M euros, which is quite manageable, and with liabilities of around €370M. During this period, with Rui Costa, the club had revenues much higher than what we had, and therefore there was no reason for the debt to rise another €100M, reaching €200M, nor for the liabilities to increase another €100M. And this is without mentioning the suppliers, whose Debts also rose significantly.”
For Vieira, “when Rui Costa says that Benfica would be even better if it weren’t for Covid-19, he is trying to justify results that didn’t depend on him”. “He had no influence whatsoever on this matter.”
As for what Rui Costa received upon assuming the presidency, Vieira is categorical: “He inherited nothing. Everything was paid for. Whoever takes over next will have management difficulties. In treasury costs alone, the club will have around €100M to pay quickly.”
The former president does not hesitate to accuse the current leader of the Eagles of “personal promotion”: “With this statement, Rui Costa lied to Benfica fans for personal promotion.”
Football is the starting point in these conversations without borders or scheduled destination. Every week, on Thursday, Luís Aguilar takes the field with a different guest. The game starts now because Yesterday It Was Late.
