Rui Costa at Benfica meeting: We fell short of our goals | OneFootball

Rui Costa opened the first of two General Assemblies taking place this Saturday, September 27. The president of Benfica highlighted the club’s financial growth but admitted the sporting failure of the men’s senior football team in 2024/25.

"Mr. President of the General Assembly, Dear fellow Board members and other Governing Bodies of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Dear Members: We are gathered here today to review and vote on the 2024/25 Report and Accounts of our Sport Lisboa e Benfica. My first emphasis goes to your participation. As I have said before and reiterate, Benfica is stronger and more robust the greater the contribution of its membership base. The high value of this commitment between members and the Club was clearly demonstrated in the approval of the new Statutes, whose record participation more than legitimizes this fundamental text and, likewise, ennobles our Club," he began by saying.

"We thus have a Club better prepared to face future challenges, more democratic and more pluralistic. The membership base of Sport Lisboa e Benfica is to be congratulated. Regarding the discussion and voting on the Club’s 2024/25 Report and Accounts, I am deeply convinced that it is a positive, solid document that deserves the approval of the Sport Lisboa e Benfica members, even if the sporting context was not as desired," Rui Costa admitted.

The president took responsibility, admitting: "I am the first to recognize that, despite the efforts we made to provide the teams with the necessary means to win, we fell short of what was intended. In football, despite a good international run, despite winning the League Cup and the Super Cup, and being in contention until the end in the Championship and the Portuguese Cup, we did not achieve the results we wanted."

Rui Costa then highlighted the success in other sports, as well as "achieving a profit of 7.7 million euros" financially, "which rises to almost 30 million euros when considering the equity method."

"One final noteworthy point is the publication, for the first time in the history of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, of the Sustainability Report. This is a decisive chapter in strengthening and renewing our commitment to best environmental, social, and governance practices, which makes us very proud. To conclude, I want to praise all the work carried out by the Casas do Benfica and the Benfica Foundation. Their civic and Benfica spirit ensures that Benfica becomes a better and more supportive club every day," he concluded.

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