Fernando Tavares warns Benfica, doubts fresh investment in SAD | OneFootball

Former Benfica vice-president Fernando Tavares commented on the entry of the American fund Entrepreneur Equity Partners into the share capital of Benfica’s SAD, through the acquisition of 16.38% of the stake held by José António dos Santos, highlighting the impact of this type of investment on modern football.

The former executive began by putting the presence of U.S. capital in European football into context: “American capital entered the Premier League with the logic of treating clubs as global, value-enhancing assets,” he began by writing on LinkedIn.

Fernando Tavares also added that, despite competence in economic management, sporting results do not always follow this model: “In the last 15 years, clubs with American capital have won 3 league titles and 1 Champions League”.

In the text, he also gives several examples from European football: “At Inter, Oaktree’s control is the result of debt enforcement. At Milan, under RedBird, there is financial discipline and a strategic narrative, but insufficient sporting investment with a direct impact on competitiveness. Football is valued above all through winning. The ‘legacy clubs’ built their position through titles and a consistent presence in the Champions League. When that axis shifts, the asset loses identity and value".

was the exercise of the right of first refusal decided by the club’s board, or did it remain with the SAD’s executive committee? As the club is the SAD’s largest shareholder, has the governance model been reversed?”.

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