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The vice-president and administrator of the SAD of Benfica Luís Mendes warned that the eagles cannot see their budgets reduced due to the reduction of revenue from broadcasting rights. But he assured that, “on principle”, the incarnates support the measure.
Luís Mendes, vice-president and administrator of Benfica’s SAD, explained that the incarnates are “in principle, in favor of the centralized negotiation of transmission rights”, but warned that they “cannot accept that budgets are reduced due to the reduction of revenues of broadcasting rights”.
Speaking to BTV, in a clarification session on the SAD accounts presented on Wednesday night, the manager warned: “I want to make it very clear that Benfica always has the understanding that it is part of the solution and never part of the problem. As a matter of principle, we are in favor of centralized negotiation of broadcasting rights. What we have to understand very well is what the League is doing in the sense of empowering our competitors, the so-called lower and middle class clubs, so that there is social progression. What we see throughout the games played away from home is that the stadiums do not have decent conditions to receive the supporters, in the overwhelming majority they do not have good accessibility. Often the pitches are not in conditions, and all this does not contribute to deliver a truly attractive product, likely to be purchased in markets other than Portugal.”
And he added: “At the same time, I need to better understand how to reach 325 million euros, the limit between 275 million euros and 325 million presented in the League study. distribution, which will have to be representative of Benfica’s social dimension, so that Benfica does not suffer from the centralized negotiation. Having a reduction in funds in this matter will imply a loss of competitiveness in international terms. When we are used to reaching Champions League stages like the quarter-finals, we are playing games with clubs with budgets much higher than ours. We cannot accept that our budgets are reduced due to the reduction of revenue from broadcasting rights.”
