Pinto da Costa says that “La Liga thinks only of business” and points to the centrality of rights

Pinto da Costa recalled the times when he was president of the league in 1995 on “The Ironies of Fate” and made a comparison with today.

University presidency: “It didn’t add anything to my career. I was president of the league but I went against my will. I fell into a dead end, the federation was organizing the tournament and the clubs wanted it to become the league. So they set up an independent body to organize tournaments but there was no understanding between the federation, the federations and the federations that gave And there was a suggestion from the federations that if I were president of the league, they would transfer the organizing rights to the league, and of course, in the face of that and pressure from all the clubs, I agreed, though with a precondition that I would only do one term and that I would leave if it was Tournaments are running normally. And it was.”

The importance of club presidents in the league: “We organized the tournaments, it was a huge responsibility because I succeeded the greatest league president of all time, Valentim Loreiro. As I had his support, the leadership of the league itself was shaped not by people nominated by the clubs, like today, but by the club presidents themselves. It was very easy. , a combination of efforts, common interests and friendships for all. We have normalized the organization of the tournaments that are still going on today. Manuel Damasio, who was President of Benfica, Pimenta Machado, President of F. Guimarães, Rui Alves, President of Nacional, Fernando Pedrosa, President of F. Setúbal ” .

Variations for today: “As the league was formed by the chiefs, it worked for the benefit of the clubs themselves, and was not seen as a business community. Today the league is not concerned with solving the problems of clubs that it does not solve. There is for example how the league is more active and with a more active union, it will be from It is inconceivable that there are no fans in football, when there are cinemas and theaters. That would be impossible. The people in the league are nominated by the clubs, but they are not presidents, they do not have the responsibility that any president has, nor the power within the clubs that any President, nor the need to solve problems. At that time, they all had the same slogan, it was possible to solve all problems. Currently, the league is thinking about business, it is the concern for the centralization of rights, I did not really understand what is this interest, such as the interest of the union. They They do things behind the backs of clubs. We have the case of the Secretary of State when she saw football Five terrible moments came for an interview saying his concern was the centralization of television rights. This is something that, if it happens, will be in 2028. When the concern of the person in charge of the sport is to resolve business project for 2028, I’m surprised, but that’s what it is. So many problems that I have to take care of solving…”

Manuel Damasio succession: “During the time I was president of the Association, not because of my merit but because of everyone on my list, it was possible to work together in friendship and above all with great independence, with openness to the proven strength of a relationship that, on my own initiative and because I took the initiative to do only one term , and who succeeded me was precisely Manuel Damasio. There were no clubs against clubs, there was no one to raise controversy, only then was it possible for the federation to hand over to us the organization of the tests that are still under verification today.”