Villas-Boas and Rui Alves criticism: “Reality suits most clubs” | OneFootball

The model for centralizing television rights sparked a tug-of-war between Rui Alves and André Villas-Boas. The Nacional president put forward an alternative proposal, which the FC Porto leader firmly opposed, even threatening to go to court if the islanders’ solution were approved at the League General Assembly — which ultimately did not happen. In the verbal clash, Rui Alves said Villas-Boas «was ignorant» on the matter. AVB did not respond in kind, but defended the new model for distributing television revenue.

«The proposal was taken to the General Assembly, it was approved with around 80% or more than 80%. It is a reality that pleases most clubs and a decisive step in building a good future for Portuguese football. New steps follow. The new steps are to go to the market and aim for the amounts we believe Portuguese football is worth. That distribution key is well designed, it values, of course, all the other clubs; it also preserves the dignity of the big three and their importance as the economic engine of Portuguese football, because that is undeniable. And without wanting to repeat myself, that is Portugal’s membership demographics and it reflects exactly that. And that clear demographic was also respected in the distribution formula», AVB argued.

«From now on, it is about going to the market, finding the best solutions and, after that, above all facing the challenges ahead for Portuguese football, which are improving infrastructure, having a greater ability to attract crowds to stadiums, avoiding situations of improper licensing, which should not happen when there are clubs filing PERs to escape some of the responsibilities and debts they have toward others. I think that also does not dignify us or add value to us. Therefore, it is about finding clearer licensing regulations, improving infrastructure, improving VAR technologies and taking all the steps that dignify and improve the product that Portuguese football is — that is what we will be focused on now», assured the Porto leader.

«The priority is to build a stronger foundation»

André Villas-Boas delivered a message of continuity and stability in FC Porto’s build-up for 2026/27, stressing that the club is moving forward without haste or noise in the market. He explained that the priority is to «keep the core of the team» and «build a stronger one», in line with the coach’s demands. «Now the European Championship is coming, attention will be focused there. FC Porto is calmly following its plan regarding the options it has in the market and our objective, as I said, is to keep the core of the team we have and build a stronger one, meeting the requirements the coach asks of us. As far as possible, we will always operate in the market in a very quiet manner. We have already completed two players who strengthen the first team, another in relation to the first team and the B team, and that is how we will proceed», he assured.

‘Explosion’ of members

On the institutional front, Villas-Boas highlighted the growth of the membership base, which he described as an «explosion of members». He recalled that FC Porto has increased its number of members by «20% a year since 2004», which he sees as a sign of «great Porto unity» and «a lot of love around the club».

The president also linked this growth to FC Porto’s digital transformation, which made the sign-up process simpler. Villas-Boas also pointed to other positive indicators: rising commercial revenues and successive sell-out crowds at the Dragão Stadium, which he described as the venue with the highest attendance last season. Going forward, the focus is on raising the bar: «There are countless other areas where we have grown: from the point of view of commercial revenues, attendances at the stadium — the Dragão Stadium was the stadium with the highest attendance last season and those are very good signs for the future. Now we are dedicated to improving the Dragão Stadium, its services, hospitality services and improving services for fans and members when they travel to the stadium. Therefore, our concern is always to improve the experience of both the fan and the member as well.»

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