“It is with great pride that, as president of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, I find myself in this space, thanking you in advance for the wonderful reception to our club through the inauguration of Casa do Benfica in Albufeira. Thank you very much for all the support given”, wrote Rui Costa in the Book of Honor of Albufeira, yesterday afternoon, at the reception ceremony of his club in the Town Hall.
José Carlos Rolo praised Rui Costa's ethics and said he was open to receiving all managers from other football clubs.
It was at the end of yesterday afternoon that the Salão Nobre of the Town Hall received the president of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Rui Costa, accompanied by a large delegation from the club and a large parade of sports journalists. It was the day of the official opening of Casa do Benfica in Albufeira, which has the number 61.
Casa do Benfica de Albufeira opened on June 9, 2018, but the club's protocol says that the inauguration only becomes official with the visit of the club's president.
Located in Sítio dos Brejos, it consists of a room measuring around 140 square meters, where, in addition to the administrative area and meeting space, it also has an area for food and drinks and another for the club's merchandising.
It currently has around 450 members and the number of football players grows from year to year, within the scope of its Technical Training Centre. Chaired by Carlos Santos, Casa do Benfica in Albufeira trains children and young people in the junior and junior levels at Estádio da Nora, in Ferreiras, who then travel to Seixal. This is the case of athletes Gonçalo Ramos, João Neves and Diogo Gonçalves, who are in the main squad of SL Benfica.
The mayor of Albufeira, accompanied at the table by Rui Costa, Carlos Santos and the vice-president of Casas do Benfica Domingos Lima, expressed that it was “an honor to receive such a worthy embassy led by Rui Costa”, to whom he congratulated : “it is not easy to forget him, in addition to being an excellent practitioner of the sport, I also congratulate him on the ethics with which he performs his duties”.
Praising football as “a great ambassador of countries”, José Carlos Rolo illustrated this statement by remembering that he was once in Montevideo and that one of the workers at the Hotel told him all the names of the Portuguese players on the 1965-1966 team.
“Rui Costa's statements are never incendiary, which allows supporters to perpetuate the truth of sport, which is to convey coexistence and peace between countries”, continued the mayor.
The mayor also greeted the Albufeira athlete Tomás Barroso, present at this ceremony, a professional basketball player for Benfica. About this athlete, Rui Costa stated that he “will remain in Benfica's staff”.
The president of SL Benfica thanked the reception and the words that José Carlos Rolo addressed to him, also referring that he hopes that “the Casa do Benfica de Albufeira is an ambassador of the club, but that it is also an essential pillar of the community”, “in social terms ”.
Rui Costa also praised the dynamic established between Casa do Benfica and the Municipality, reinforcing that, having joined SL Benfica at the age of five, he maintains as a guiding principle “always winning”, “being as ambitious as possible, but being as respectful as possible.”
After this reception ceremony at the Town Hall, the delegation headed to the new Casa do Benfica, in Albufeira, which is the eighth in the Algarve region, along with those in Vila Real de Santo António, Tavira, Olhão, Faro, São Brás de Alportel, Portimão and Lagos.
Photos: Rui Gregorio | CM Albufeira
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