Benfica president Rui Costa will mark on Saturday the members who have completed 25, 50 and 75 years of contact with the club by handing over platinum rings and gold and silver emblems, a celebration being held to mark the anniversary of the club incarnate but that due to the pandemic did not happen at the beginning of the year after it was postponed .
Check out the full Benfica President’s speech at the opening ceremony of the platinum rings, gold and silver emblems for members of the Red Badge:
At this board’s first meeting, the six strategic axes of this mandate were defined: the sports plan, priority for members and fans, financial sustainability, legal review, and effective communication and infrastructure. Parallel to these pillars, we want Benfica to always be guided by clarity in all operations and to strengthen the Benfica family union.
Let no one doubt: to achieve what we all intend to achieve, and to reach what we all aspire to, it is necessary to be united and coherent. everybody. We always managed to win when we were more united and cohesive. This is the plea for unity and cohesion that I offer to all Benfica fans.
In recent weeks, we have witnessed a growing campaign to destabilize our club. We will know how to ignore lies and who wants to divide us. We will know how to follow the path we have set for the club that will bring us closer to the victories we want, to the level of excellence we aspire to. We know very well what future we want for Benfica and the ways we have to go.
In my first ceremony to present my badges of dedication and merit as President of Lisboa e Benfica, I could not help but convey to you the immense honor, the tremendous responsibility and the immense pride I feel at this moment.
An honor to head the largest Portuguese club, one of the biggest in the world and our shared passion.
Responsibility because we are Benfica, the largest brand in Portugal, recognized globally.
Proud to be one of you. Even before I became president, manager or player, I was already happy with this amazing club. He was indeed one among many, in a clear expression of the union, the strength, and the mystery of which our history consists.
An honor to vote of confidence, in the last October 9 election, I gave you the members of our team and program.
Much greater responsibility: a mandate given to the highest-ever electoral participation in a Portuguese club, the second largest in the world.
These governing bodies have been elected by the largest number of partners and votes in their entire history and this represents a growing demand, which we cannot fail to meet.
I am proud that I was also among this audience to receive the Silver Badge, and I know how amazing and symbolic this moment is in our journey as a member of Sport Lisboa e Benfica.
An honor to represent the best partners and fans in the world. I’ve had the privilege of playing on big platforms and in many countries, and I can proudly tell you that no one has a skilled mass like our guys.
This vibrates and accompanies Benfica, anywhere in the world, in a unique and unique way unlike any other club.
Responsibility Because we are a club with a unique history, we must respect it every second, with a set of principles and values that can never be called into question.
We are proud that today we honor the members of Benfica and their relationship with the club.
No one should doubt that Benfica owns the most precious and precious things from all of us, all of us, our partners. In partners lies our greatest strength.
The importance of our members, in the year we celebrate 117 years of history, is what makes this moment so special.
Today, 653 silver badges will be awarded to members who have reached 25 years of membership, 226 gold badges to members who have 50 years of membership in our club and, to say it with great pride, 92 platinum rings for those who earn 75 years of partner. .
In total, today we honor 971 members. A figure that expresses our greatness well.
Among the many honorees are former directors João Alberto Magro Diogo, Porfirio Alves and Luis Tado, my dear children’s coach, Arnaldo Teixeira, and Gloria our captain and symbol, Humberto Coelho.
To each of you, our fair gratitude for your commitment to our heart club.
To each of you, on behalf of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, our bow and warm applause.
In the first meeting of this direction, the six strategic axes of this mandate were identified:
Sports plan
– Precedence of members and supporters
financial sustainability
– legal review
– effective communication
– Infrastructure
Parallel to these pillars, we want Benfica to always be guided by clarity in all operations and to strengthen the Benfica family union.
Our Benfica is strong and knows the path he wants to take.
But let no one be in any doubt: to achieve what we all intend to achieve, and to reach what we all aspire to, it is necessary that we unite and hold together. everybody.
We always managed to win when we were more united and cohesive.
This is the call for unity and cohesion that I address to all Benfica fans.
This plea for unity which I am addressing to you is a demand which I have first of all for myself.
It is my commitment to all colleagues. I will be the first to unite and I will be the first to reject any division.
Because it is a way of being and not just words that adorn any discourse, I have made sure to bring together various feelings and visions about the future of Benfica in the committee we have set up to review the statutes.
In recent weeks, we have witnessed a growing campaign to destabilize our club.
We will know how to ignore lies and who wants to divide us.
We will know how to follow the path we have set for the club that will bring us closer to the victories we want, to the level of excellence we aspire to.
We know very well what future we want for Benfica and the ways we have to go.
For this purpose, we have well-defined goals.
And only those goals – victories on the field, meeting the expectations of our members and supporters, financial sustainability and modernizing the club – will affect our mandate.
Two days after the centenary of Borges Coutinho’s birth, let me mention one of the milestones his presidency left in the history of Sport Lisbon and Benfica.
I don’t mean the titles.
I’m not even referring to business.
But yes, that’s it, for his extraordinary ability to achieve consensus and his perception that uniting the different feelings that manifested around Benfica, it would be easier to achieve the success that everyone wanted.
If I remember Borges Coutinho today, if I remember him in a humble way, it’s because I think that’s the way, and maybe that’s just that.
Either we come together and stick together or it will be difficult for the club to achieve what we all aspire to.
This is the challenge I would like to leave you today. For everyone without exception.
I hope that they will accompany us on this path, in a combative and active way, with or without approval, but always respectful of the Sport Lisboa e Benfica Foundation.
That we know how to unite around our club and its values and not be held hostage by those who want to do us harm.
Together, united, in a relentless defense of our Centenary Club against all who don’t care about us.
I’ve said it and I’ll repeat it, because that is my deepest conviction, united we can be unbeatable. Yes, together we can be unbeatable.
Long live the partners of Sport Lisbon and Benfica!
Long live the great Lisbon and Benfica sport! »
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