A group of members, including Francisco Benitez, face of the ‘Servir o Benfica’ movement and candidate for the presidency of the General Assembly in the club’s last elections, sent a letter to Benfica’s Supervisory Board about alleged violation of the club’s statutes by Rui Costa.
In the letter, disclosed by CMTV, it is alleged that Rui Costa will be the main shareholder of the commercial company 10 Invest SGPS, Lda., which, in turn, holds the rights to the Footlab brand. «Footlab will intermediate the sale of athletes to Sport Lisboa e Benfica, as was made public by its self-appointed CEO, Filipe Costa, son of vice-president Rui Manuel Costa», it reads.
In addition, it continues, «Footlab will also have, according to the information made public, a partnership with Sport Lisboa e Benfica, through which the club has installed a soccer school on the premises of the said company, with the commercial values thereof’.
The partners then question the Supervisory Board about these allegations, considering them a clear violation of article 44, paragraph 4 of Benfica’s statutes, which states that “the members of the governing bodies cannot, directly or indirectly, establish with the club and companies in which it has relevant participation, commercial relations or the provision of services, even if through an intermediary, considering for these purposes, namely, the spouse, ascendants and descendants».
Here is the full letter:
«Dear Members of the Supervisory Board of Sport Lisboa e Benfica
In recent days, several pieces of information have been made public which – to be confirmed – constitute a clear violation of the statutes of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, namely its article 44, no. 4, which states:
“The members of the governing bodies may not, directly or indirectly, establish with the Club and companies in which it has relevant participation, commercial relations or the provision of services, even through an intermediary, considering for these purposes, namely, the spouse, ascendants and descendants.”
Concretely, it was disclosed in various media that the vice president of the club will be – through a company owned by him – the owner of the Footlab brand, which will carry out, according to the representative of the club, various deals with Sport Lisboa e Benfica.
The aforementioned trademark “Footlab” is registered in favor of 10 Invest – Sociedade Gestora de Participações Socials, Lda, with NIPC 507411110, having its registered office at Avenida Engenheira Maria de Lurdes Pintassilgo, nº 2, Armazém 2 2794-054 Carnaxide, in other words, same address as the commercial space of the aforementioned Footlab.
Such publicly disclosed information includes, among others, the following allegations:
1. Vice President Rui Manuel Costa will be the main shareholder of the commercial company 10 Invest, SGPS, Lda., which, in turn, holds the rights to the Footlab brand.
2. Footlab will intermediate the sale of athletes to Sport Lisboa e Benfica, as made public by its self-appointed CEO, Filipe Costa, son of vice-president Rui Manuel Costa, when announcing, in publications on its social networks Instagram and LinkedIn, the intermediation of the sale of at least the following athletes to Sport Lisboa e Benfica:
i) Caroline VanSlambrouck, 15 November 2019
ii) Thembi Júnior Kgatlaba on 27 January 2020
iii) Ucheibe Christy, on February 14, 2020
3. A company named KSirius Football Management is also mentioned in several of these transactions, to which the aforementioned Filipe Costa will provide services.
4. Footlab will also have, according to the information made public, a partnership with Sport Lisboa e Benfica, through which the club has installed a soccer school on the premises of the said Footlab, and its commercial values will not be disclosed, assuming that they are regulated in a contract between Sport Lisboa e Benfica and 10 Events Lda.
It is thus clear that – if these allegations are confirmed – we are facing a clear violation of the aforementioned article 44, paragraph 4 of the club’s statutes.
Since the self-styled CEO of Footlab is the son, immediately descendant, of Vice President Rui Manuel Costa, we are facing a notorious violation of the Sport Lisboa e Benfica statutes, by the aforementioned employee and Vice President.
The statutes also dictating the respective disciplinary consequences for such an obvious violation thereof, in its art. 44, no. 10, the signatories, partners of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, in the exercise of their right to information, hereby request the following:
1. Is the Audit Committee aware of the allegations mentioned herein?
2. What is the total amount transacted to date between Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Footlab?
3. And between Sport Lisboa e Benfica and the company Ksirius Football Management, which is always mentioned in the aforementioned transactions?
4. Is there or was there any contract in force between Sport Lisboa e Benfica or any of the companies in the Benfica group with the companies 10 Invest Lda. or Ksirius Football Management?
5. If this information is confirmed, which the Supervisory Board will do in view of the seriousness of the facts, namely with regard to the disciplinary action on the aforementioned employee, provided for in art. 44, No. 10 of the statutes?
6. What has the Supervisory Board done and will it do to ensure that there are no obvious conflicts of interest between club employees and club suppliers, as seems to result in the case at hand?
In anticipation of your brief news.
The subscribing partners
Francisco Benitez, Partner 3082
Tiago Godinho, Partner 19385
Gonçalo Pereira, Partner 58695»
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