Noronha Lopes slams Pereira da Costa, demands Benfica answers | OneFootball

João Noronha Lopes - who reacted to the hiring of José Mourinho - attacked José Pereira da Costa. The candidate for the elections on the upcoming October 25th believes that the president of the General Assembly of Benfica must answer a series of questions concerning the "recent history" of the club's management.

"Mr. President of the General Assembly: clarify the Members. Honor Democracy at Benfica. Sport Lisboa e Benfica is heading towards the most decisive elections in its recent history. The importance of this electoral act at Benfica requires an absolutely impartial, rigorous, and transparent process, capable of ensuring the most participated election ever in the Club, in Portugal and abroad, right from the start through effective coordination with the Benfica Houses," the statement reads.

"It is therefore a matter of great concern that the President of the General Assembly (PGA), Dr. José Pereira da Costa, continues to contribute to the persistence and intensification of doubts about this electoral act," added Noronha Lopes, assuring that "the PGA had two opportunities, on July 28 and September 9, to clarify the members. He failed both times. By postponing this clarification, the PGA has entangled himself in a tactical stance that does not dignify the duties of impartiality required of any President of the General Assembly of Sport Lisboa e Benfica," he adds.

For the candidate, "each day that passes without answers weakens the electoral act and compromises the trust of the Benfica supporters." Therefore, "the Benfica Above All candidacy, led by João Noronha Lopes, demands immediate, clear, and written responses" to a variety of questions mentioned in the document.

Noronha Lopes states that "answering these questions is a duty of the President of the General Assembly" and that "doubt should not remain": "The recent history of the electoral acts of Sport Lisboa e Benfica should impose a heightened diligence on the person directly responsible for its conduct. Without clear answers, the President of the General Assembly risks calling into question the seriousness of the next electoral act, bearing the burden of the loss of trust and the reputational damage resulting from an electoral act that is not conducted flawlessly."

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