The Servir o Benfica Movement released an open letter sent to the chairman of the club’s General Assembly, António Pires de Andrade, in which it demanded his immediate resignation from the position.
At issue is the non-scheduling of an Extraordinary General Assembly, in which the movement intends to discuss, among other things, how the last electoral act, held in October, took place.
Here is the open letter:
«Excellent Chairman of the Board of the General Meeting of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, António Pires de Andrade;
Servir o Benfica, through an open letter, recalls the words addressed by Your Excellency to the members in a statement issued on June 29, 2021, reiterating the commitment to schedule the required Extraordinary General Assembly meeting for the month of July. Such a commitment failed. The statutory deadlines do not allow the Extraordinary General Meeting to be scheduled during the current month.
The impossibility of fulfilling the word given to the members of the Club was the reason for the resignation of Professor Dr. Rui Pereira from the position. The Hon. Mr António Pires de Andrade, by not calling the required extraordinary meeting, he is failing to speak to the members, making it impossible for them to exercise their rights and disrespecting the Statutes whose main mission is to enforce. The absence of justification for these attitudes and decisions, the silence regarding any impediment raised by the Board or Health Authorities and the break in the dialogue previously established between Servir o Benfica and the Board of the General Assembly are objectionable aggravations. They limit the healthy participation of the members in the Club’s citizenship, pushing the process towards an eventual legal dispute which, if unwanted, appears increasingly inevitable.
Serving Benfica requires, for the above, the immediate resignation of Mr. António Pires de Andrade from the position, due to the manifest incapacity shown to be up to the moment that Sport Lisboa e Benfica is going through. It is further required that the Bureau of the General Assembly guarantee the scheduling of the Extraordinary General Assembly meeting as soon as possible so that the Electoral Regulation becomes a reality, also requiring the pronouncement of an objective deadline for the realization of the General Electoral Assembly meeting, after approval of the said Regulation.”
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