JN/Agencies
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Rui Fontes won, this Friday, the elections for the presidency of Marítimo with 65% of the votes, defeating the president of the last 24 years, Carlos Pereira.
The candidate on list A had 65% of the votes (17,629), beating list B, led by the current maritime president, who got 35% (9,464). Rui Fontes, 68 years old, was elected for the 2021-2025 quadrennium, after having held the position between 1988 and 1997, having been succeeded in the presidency of the club precisely by Carlos Pereira, who directed the Madeiran emblem for the last 24 years.
“Marítimo has been reborn, Marítimo is alive. Now we have a very difficult road ahead, it will not be easy, but we will work to improve everything that is happening right now,” Rui Fontes told reporters.
On the difference in votes, he guaranteed that it only reflects “how easy it is to unite the “red green” associative mass, revealing that “he had already noticed a great unanimity” around his candidacy.
To mark the “important and historic day” for the club, Rui Fontes revealed that the shirt he is currently wearing, striped in green and red, was the same one he wore in the last game, the one “in which he said goodbye to Marítimo”, in 1997 “I thought that today would be an important and historic day for Marítimo and I decided to bring her dressed to celebrate this great victory for Marítimo’s fans,” he said.
Under his umbrella, the island club reached the European competitions for the first time in its history, in the 1993/94 season, having been eliminated by Antwerp, in the UEFA Cup, and was present for the first time in the Portuguese Cup final in 1995, phase in which he was defeated by Sporting (2-0).
The elections that took place at the Estádio do Marítimo accounted for a large influx of the associative mass, with about 1,891 voters, in a historic day for the Madeiran club, which did not have two lists running for the governing bodies for 40 years.
The elected president presented a candidacy entitled “Tá na Hora – Novo Rumo”, becoming Carlos Pereira’s first opponent in electoral events.
During the campaign, Rui Fontes made known the “ambitious project” that aims to “place Marítimo among the six, seven first national clubs” in the next three to four years, having announced that he will only chair the club for one term. .
The Madeiran businessman, leader of the elected list A, intends to revolutionize the management of the Madeiran emblem, attributing the direction of SAD to the former captain and current coach of the Lithuanians at Panevezys, João Luís, and to his assistant and also former home player , Luís Olim.>
“Decentralization in decisions, responsibility, professionalism, innovation and modernization” is what it proposes to apply, rejecting Carlos Pereira’s “one-man management policy”.
Carlos Pereira, leader of list B, was defeated and removed from the position he held for 24 years.
The businessman also attended seven times in European competitions – with 30 games in Europe -, two finals of the League Cup and a final of the Portuguese Cup, and was committed to fulfilling his last term if he had been re-elected.
The election took place this Friday, at the Estádio do Marítimo, with a slight delay in the opening of the polls, which opened 10 minutes after the scheduled time (9 hours), and took place until 9 pm, with 1891 members voting for one total of 27285 votes, of which 192 blanks and voids.
According to the president of the General Assembly, Luis Miguel Sousa, the inauguration takes place in 15 days. For Rui Fontes, “if everything is settled, it can be tomorrow”.
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