Benfica budget for 2026/27 approved as Rui Costa faces criticism | OneFootball

Benfica members approved the club’s 2026/27 budget on Saturday evening, with 54.57% in favour and 45.43% against. In total, 8,209 votes were cast after a day of debate at Pavilhão n.º 2 da Luz.

According to Glorioso 1904, members first met in the morning to review the season’s performance, before reconvening later to debate the 2026/27 budget.

Rui Costa accepted that, despite the Supertaça, third place and missing the Champions League fell short. He said a centre-back has been secured and a winger will also arrive, and stressed signings are agreed collectively across football operations, with fees not dictating selection.

Later, Nuno Catarino presented the numbers and digital voting opened. Costa urged members to support the plan.

Costa voiced optimism that Marco Silva can bring stability after a run of six coaches in five years, outlining departures from Jorge Jesus through to José Mourinho. Criticism from the floor was intense, with João Noronha Lopes calling last season another failure, Francisco Benitez questioning the club’s direction and Martim Mayer labelling this the worst decade since 1904.

Former president Luís Filipe Vieira attended in the morning but did not hear Rui Costa’s interventions and was absent from the afternoon session. Mauro Xavier proposed a participatory budget for the Casas, allocating 1% of annual spend to projects, but his motion was not put to a vote.

The morning session drew 1,043 members on site, with 54 interventions, 270 online submissions and 7,566 remote participants across 41 countries. Interventions concluded before the count ended, with results later posted on the club’s official channels.

Source: Glorioso 1904