João Gabriel calls Benfica petition propaganda, cites four years without leadership, criticises Proença | OneFootball

João Gabriel has accused Benfica of turning the TV rights centralisation debate into propaganda, arguing the club's push comes too late and is chiefly political. The former communications director said in a LinkedIn post that the current move is more about politics than substance.

He noted it has been known for more than five years that centralisation would proceed, with the law passed in 2021, the calendar set and the 2028/29 start never hidden.

His sharpest criticism was for the current leadership, which he says had five years to study, negotiate, propose, influence and, above all, lead. In his view Benfica failed to do so and is only now turning to the Assembly of the Republic to try to halt a process it ignored for five years.

He characterised the petition as a communication exercise above all else. While accepting Benfica is right about several of the problems it identifies, he argued the club cannot recast four years without leadership as a sudden show of defiance.

Gabriel also criticised Pedro Proença, president of the Portuguese Football Federation, saying he skewed the centralisation debate from the outset into an argument over distribution of money, when the priority should have been reform of competitive structures. He said it is reasonable for Benfica to be concerned, but not to pretend it only discovered the problem in 2026.

Source: Glorioso 1904

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