As shares of Sport Lisboa e Benfica’s (SLB) SAD opened this Monday on a positive note, valued at 6.40 euros, following the club’s elections held over the weekend which saw more than 85,000 members cast their vote.
Recently, Benfica’s SAD shares rose 0.95% to 6.36 euros, as reported by Investing.
Rui Costa and João Noronha Lopes will face off in a second round for the presidency of Benfica, after emerging as the top two candidates in Saturday’s election, the club announced on its official site.
The current president received 42.13% of the votes and Noronha Lopes garnered 30.26%, leading to a run-off scheduled for November 8, as no candidate achieved the required majority (over 50%) to be elected in the first round.
Other candidates included former president Luís Filipe Vieira (13.86%), João Diogo Manteigas (11.48%), Martim Mayer (2.10%), and Cristóvão Carvalho (0.18%). This election marked the most contested in the club’s history, with 85,710 voters participating, equivalent to 1,767,676 votes, more than doubling the participation in 2021, when Rui Costa defeated Francisco Benitez.
In addition to the presidential race, the lists of Rui Costa (G) and Noronha Lopes (F) will also contend for the remaining social bodies in the second round, including the General Assembly and Fiscal Council, as well as the Remuneration Committee (a statutory body), as both lists were the top two in all categories but did not secure an absolute majority.
For the General Assembly, List G, led by current leader José Pereira da Costa, received 43.01% of votes, while List F, headed by Gonçalo Almeida Ribeiro, part of João Noronha Lopes’ campaign, acquired 29.75%.
In the Fiscal Council’s selections, List G, proposing Raul Fernando Martins for president, led with 38.69%, narrowly beating List F, led by António Bagão Félix, which secured 37.94%.
Regarding the Remuneration Committee – the only non-social body up for election – List G, with Eduardo Stock da Cunha at the helm, received 45.17% of votes, whereas List F, led by João Moreira Rato, gained 34.84% of preferences.
The elections for Benfica’s social bodies on Saturday witnessed participation from 85,710 members – a world record – just over half of the 160,182 eligible to vote.
Rui Costa may receive support from Luís Filipe Vieira after failing to secure an absolute majority in the Benfica presidential election. Meanwhile, João Diogo Manteigas is contemplating joining João Noronha Lopes in the second round on November 8.
