Speech by President Rui Costa at the Ordinary General Meeting

Rui Costa, President of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, addressed Benfica fans this morning, Saturday, June 7, at the Club's Ordinary General Meeting, which has a single item on the agenda. The meeting is taking place at Pavilhão N.º 2.

SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT

“Dear President of the General Assembly,

Dear President of the Supervisory Board,

Dear colleagues from the Board of Directors and other governing bodies of Sport Lisboa e Benfica,

Dear Members,

I would like to begin by thanking you for your presence at yet another General Meeting.

We are gathered here today to present, discuss, and vote on Sport Lisboa e Benfica's budget for 2025/26, but before going into a more detailed analysis, allow me to review the season that is still underway.

When it comes to football, I acknowledge without hesitation and without excuses that we did not achieve what we wanted and fell short of Benfica's ambitions.

Although we fought for all domestic competitions until the end, we did not achieve the goals we set out to achieve.

We only won the League Cup, which, as I said, does not satisfy us. We want more and demand more from ourselves.

In a few days, we will begin our participation in the Club World Cup, which we reached on our own sports merit based on the results obtained in the Champions League over the last few years.

Once again, we were the last Portuguese club to be eliminated from this competition and, despite all the demands that the Champions League entails, we cannot lose sight of our ambition to always do even better. Benfica is in the European top 15 and is the first team just behind the Big 5.

In women's football, we are starting this year with the goal of winning in all categories.

With roller hockey still to play, we won 5 out of 7, having failed after 6 years in futsal.

The women's football team retained their title, becoming five-time champions. We were also champions in water polo, handball, basketball, and, 50 years later, volleyball. This fills us with pride.

As for the men's sports, I admit that we failed in handball and volleyball, after five years of successive victories.

We are still in the running in hockey, basketball, and futsal, where a decisive response is required at this crucial stage of the season.

If we wanted more than we have achieved so far in professional football and men's  indoor sports, we must praise the progress made in terms of training.

We achieved the best league position ever with the B team, won the Revelação Cup with the Under-23s, were champions with the Under-19s and are ahead in the Under-17s and Under-15s. This could be a historic year for Sport Lisboa e Benfica's youth training.

Having reached this point, it is important to emphasize that despite the various achievements, we must always strive for more.

This budget embodies this aspiration to win and respects the two main pillars of this mandate: a strong desire to win in a broad eclecticism in both genders, combined with the essential economic and financial sustainability of Sport Lisboa e Benfica.

The budget we are voting on today is designed in accordance with these two premises. All Benfica teams are given the conditions to win, while we reinforce the financial and economic solidity of Sport Lisboa e Benfica.

To this end, we are continuing on a path of revenue growth and cost structure optimization, with a view to maximizing investment in the competitiveness of our many teams.

Maintaining Benfica's eclectic and unique vitality, both in men's and women's sports, is what motivates us.

Enhancing the Club in the sports sphere and strengthening it economically is what drives us in preparing this budget, the execution of which, like previous ones, complies with the rigor that our finances have always deserved.

Finally, I would like to end with a sincere and direct note about Benfica's current situation.

The key thing at this point is to end the season with a high-quality performance and enormous ambition in the Club World Cup.

Tomorrow we leave for the United States with the pride of being part of a global event that will be a milestone in the history of football. We therefore want, more than ever, to raise the name of Benfica.

After the season ends with the Club World Cup and before the start of the new sports season, I will inform the members of my decision on whether or not to run for a new term as President of Sport Lisboa e Benfica.

Until then, I remain focused on the sports season, as I recently stated publicly, in this case, focused on the Club World Cup and the preparation for a new season that we all hope will be better than this one, regardless of who is President or who is here, because above all of us, more important than all of us, is Sport Lisboa e Benfica.

Once again, I would like to thank you all for attending.

We will provide any clarifications you may require regarding the budget and, after the vote, regarding any other matters you may consider relevant.

With respect, the Benfica way.

Long live Sport Lisboa e Benfica!"