Presidential Beat Down

Benfica President Luis Felipe Vieira left a meeting last night under duress after he refused to entertain discussion from a number of fan groups.

Benfica are widely recognized as one of the world’s most publicly supported clubs. Benfica pride themselves on the fact that, in spite of not playing in one of the big three leagues, they have a comparable level of support. Even though they aren’t necessarily as “fan involved” as a club such as Barcelona, they still tend to be a “fan forward” type of club. To this end, they rely on the fans greatly, especially during periods like the present when the team is having sub-par seasons.

So, at last night’s meeting, when president Viera refused to entertain discussion from the fan groups, the fans became unruly and violent. They swung at the president, with one report saying that he was kicked in the stomach. A number of people present were calling for his resignation, saying that he has done little for the supporters groups as well as in-stadium security. Rui Costa attempted to quell the uprising and spoke plainly with a number of the outraged fans.

My opinion? Start winning. These types of things tend to go away when your club is successful.

On a side note, the final verdict regarding Boavista’s potential participation in the first division as well as a number of other appeals in the Golden Whistle case are apparently being deliberated as we speak and a decision will be handed down in the coming hours/days. It’ll be nice to finally close the book on this stain on Portuguese football and move forward to the impending season.

Category: Benfica

Tags: Benfica, Luis Felipe Viera, Rui Costa

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