Cosme Damião Awards 2026: Rui Costa’s words remembered, Benfica president | OneFootball

Rui Costa had the honor of delivering the opening speech at the Cosme Damião Awards 2026 ceremony. Among his words, the President of Benfica praised the various personalities who shone in the past year and, among other topics, reviewed the sports performance, leaving criticisms about what has been happening in Portuguese football. Check it out in full here.

"When reviewing the sports performance of the past year, we see achievements that make us proud, but we are the first to be self-critical. Without beating around the bush, we are not in the place we wanted to be. And it will always be so, as long as we are not in first place. We do not shy away, nor will we ever shy away from this responsibility," Rui Costa began at the Cosme Damião Awards.

"But we cannot, and will not, accept, in any way, what has been happening in Portuguese football. We cannot forget the way we were deprived of a Portuguese Cup, nor what we have witnessed throughout this championship. The example of the last matchday in Arouca is glaring, but it is just another example compared to what we have seen in other fields," recalled the President, highlighting the incidents of Saturday, March 14.

"We also cannot accept the unqualifiable punishment of José Mourinho for facts that have been proven not to have happened. We demand rigor, we demand respect for Benfica and to compete on equal terms with our opponents," he emphasized, defending the Special One.

"We will continue to fight for our goals until the last breath. That is what I demand. But it is imperative that we are allowed to fight with the same weapons as our rivals," said the President of Benfica as he kicked off the event that honors the personalities of the red universe.

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