João Gabriel slams Rui Costa's friend: Benfica back club critics | OneFootball

once again harshly criticized the Benfica management this Thursday, March 19, through a post on his LinkedIn account. The former communications director criticizes the closeness between Rui Costa and Pedro Proença, president of the FPF.

In the same text, he recalls a controversial episode: “On the Club’s anniversary – at the same time Rui Costa was once again demanding respect – Pedro Proença was sitting in the front row at the Club’s most symbolic institutional gala. Benfica offered the stage, honor, and institutional prominence to someone who – since arriving at the FPF – has shown them disrespect. It’s not just incoherent. It’s incomprehensible. All of this blatantly erodes the authority of any institution or leader.”

The former official further explains that this attitude is not new, highlighting a case from May 2025: “After the Portuguese Cup final and following a blatant refereeing error that altered the outcome of the match, Benfica took one of the toughest stances in recent years. They announced disciplinary actions, demanded VAR audio recordings, threatened to appeal to international bodies, and supposedly suspended collaboration with key processes in Portuguese football. It seemed like a breaking point. It seemed, but it wasn’t. It was an impassioned ‘enough’, but absolutely inconsequential.”

João Gabriel also criticizes the repetition of this behavior: “Months later, already during the election campaign, Rui Costa returned to the same approach. He spoke of evidence, demanded answers from the Refereeing Council and the FPF, denounced the double standards, and reiterated the need for ‘respect’. The tone was the same. The indignation too. But nothing changed. The words were lost in the euphoria of the electoral victory, while, in the City of Football, silence and indifference towards the demands coming from Luz prevailed.”

To conclude, he left a blunt warning: “From Rui Costa, Proença has already gotten what he wanted. Maybe in three years, when the new campaign for the FPF approaches, he’ll give him importance again. Until then, we’ll go from ‘banging the table’ to ‘banging the table’ until the final shipwreck.”

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