Benfica elections | Live debate with all candidates, minute by minute | OneFootball

22:29 - Rui Costa: "We have considered having a separate investor for women's football, but we always wanted the team to keep the name SL Benfica. We moved women's football to the Benfica Campus. We need to be aware of what the big European teams spend on women's football (...) We spend a lot on sports because we have them all, unlike our rivals."

22:26 - Cristóvão Carvalho: "In women's football, we have many possibilities to win a European title, and that's my bet (...) There's a lot of work to be done in sports, taking a step back in some to move forward in others."

22:20 - João Noronha Lopes: "We can continue to invest in training conditions for women's football, in development, and in scouting. Regarding sports, we win very little for what we invest."

22:17 - Martim Mayer: "We need to create an identity for women's football. Create an 'inferno da luz' for women's football in Seixal (...) in sports, we also need to look at the infrastructures, the sports deserve it - the Benfica Campus of sports."

22:16 - Luís Filipe Vieira: "In women's football, with more investment, we can aim for a European title. In the other sports, we need to rethink the model. We need to set a goal of having 30% of players from the youth academy."

22:14 - Rui Costa: "Women's football is a successful project. Regarding sports, we invested a lot, resulting in double the titles. We want to continue betting."

22:13 - We move on to the next topic: women's football and sports.

22:13 - Martim Mayer: "My project also aims to create short-term housing in Seixal, to accommodate families."

22:12 - João Diogo Manteigas: "Benfica is not a means, it's an end, and that's what needs to happen with the youth academy."

22:11 - João Noronha Lopes: "João Neves is not a matter of the past. João Neves would be a symbol for the next academy players."

22:10 - Martim Mayer: "I think discussing the past is not of interest to the members (...) Benfica urgently needs to create a college in Seixal."

22:09 - Luís Filipe Vieira: "Rui Costa, maybe you didn't go as far as to immediately give João Neves a four-year contract. If the situation was financial, you lose the rings, but keep the fingers."

22:07 - Rui Costa: "Responding to João Diogo Manteigas, do we have to guarantee parents that the players will play? We can't create illusions without being in football (...) regarding João Neves, Noronha Lopes, I don't remember seeing you in any meeting to contradict me."

22:05 - Cristóvão Carvalho: "João Neves is a thorn in Rui Costa's side. João Noronha Lopes doesn't commit to anything."

22:03 - João Diogo Manteigas: "When the academy was called upon in 2018, with Bruno Lage, to save Benfica, we became champions."

22:00 - João Noronha Lopes: "We need to train to win, not train to sell. We need to invest in the academy (...) João Neves shouldn't pay for the mistakes of this Board."

21:58 - Martim Mayer: "My proposal is more academy players in the A team (...) 50% of the A team will be from the academy."

21:56 - Luís Filipe Vieira: "João Diogo Manteigas is very young and doesn't remember Benfica before me (...) we can't just throw the kids in there."

21:53 - Rui Costa: "The situation with João Neves is different from what's being told. Saying he didn't want to leave Benfica is the simplest thing in the world (...) this year we have 11 academy players in the main team. Last year we won three titles, eight out of 12 possible."

21:50 - Cristóvão Carvalho: "We have one of the best academies in the world, and credit is due. But we can do much better (...) 3 or 4 players will have to reach the main team each year."

21:50 - Third topic of the night: youth football

21:49 - João Diogo Manteigas: "No one is going to do a purge here."

21:49 - Martim Mayer: "I don't agree with this organization of Noronha Lopes."

21:48 - João Noronha Lopes: "The organization and definition confuse many people."

21:48 - Cristóvão Carvalho: "No one understands Nuno Gomes. He will spend more time in Seixal than as vice-president."

21:46 - Luís Filipe Vieira: "This is a lot of theory, but in practice, it's none of this. There are people who are not prepared for the positions they want to occupy."

21:45 - Martim Mayer: "It doesn't make sense to have a vice-president for football."

21:45 - João Diogo Manteigas: "I ask for elevation (...) António Silva hasn't renewed yet, Otamendi has. That's why we need a break with the past."

21:41 - João Noronha Lopes: "I can guarantee that Nuno Gomes and Pedro Ferreira are very prepared to take on roles at Benfica."

21:39 - Martim Mayer: "One thing is to have a set of intentions, another is to have a concrete proposal. Mário Branco doesn't look at football in the medium term because he doesn't have time for it."

21:37 - Luís Filipe Vieira: "It's not the coach who will decide the players, it's the scouting team, with the coach's agreement."

21:33 - Rui Costa says he "doesn't think about the immediate" and talks about the average age of Benfica's squad, with only six players over 25 years old.

21:31 - Cristóvão Carvalho accuses candidates of little commitment and points out the competitors' goals as "short."

21:29 - Let's go to the rebuttal. João Diogo Manteigas corrects João Noronha Lopes and responds to Rui Costa: "Betting on the academy is pointless if they are on the bench or sold."

21:27 - João Noronha Lopes: "I want to sit down and talk with José Mourinho, give him even more conditions to win. But I can't help but find it strange that after an investment of 137M, the squad presents these gaps."

21:25 - Martim Mayer: "We want to talk to José Mourinho, but we think there's a better way to work the academy."

21:22 - Luís Filipe Vieira: "We have to be champions this year (...) The squad is unbalanced."

21:21 - Rui Costa: "Whenever we needed to make changes in January, we did, within what the coach needs and within the Club's possibilities."

21:19 - Cristóvão Carvalho: "It has to do with scouting, proposed objectives. And I haven't seen defined objectives yet."

21:18 - João Diogo Manteigas: "It will be José Mourinho, along with the rest of the structure."

21:17 - Second question related to football: Who will determine Benfica's winter market?

21:15 - Finally, João Noronha Lopes: "My project boils down to three ideas: stronger structure, greater stability, and a culture of victory."

21:13 - Now Martim Mayer: "There's a lack of coordination and definition of a game model. I will bring a four-year plan."

21:11 - It's Luís Filipe Vieira's turn: "The project is based on the football team. We want to win and have hegemony in Portugal (...) I will make a proposal to the coach to renew for four years (...) we will prioritize the Portuguese market."

21:08 - Rui Costa speaks: "We didn't win what we wanted, but we restructured the team (...) it was Benfica's best mandate at the European level."

21:06 - Cristóvão Carvalho speaks: "I present a European Benfica (...) Benfica is bigger than Portugal and must have European titles."

21:03 - João Diogo Manteigas: "Benfica still has very large squads."

21:02 - João Diogo Manteigas is the first to speak about Benfica's football.

21:01 - Debate about to start, with the rules being explained.

Topics: Professional football, youth football, women's football and sports, finances, TV rights, infrastructures, associativism, and institutional relations

Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to each.

20:48 - Rui Costa is already speaking to BTV and says he is pleased with the debate taking place.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.