Sport
The half-hour delay in the opening of the electoral process for the presidency of FC Porto was due to a request presented by List A, led by Pinto da Costa, for the replacement of some elements at the voting table.
FERNANDO VELVET
Thousands of members of FC Porto This morning, they were present at the opening of the elections for the club’s presidency, forming long queues around the Estádio do Dragão.
At the start of voting, Around three thousand FC Porto members were in the vicinity of the stadium to exercise their rights, forming orderly lines.
So far, there has been no disturbance in the normal course of the election, which is still being monitored by elements of the PSP, outside the stadium.
With this high number of members, it is expected that the record of 10,731 voting members, which participated in the 1988 elections, will be broken.
Until noon, 6,901 members voted in the FC Porto electionsaccording to official data.
The president of FC Porto, Pinto da Costa, will face André Villas-Boas and Nuno Lobo today in the elections for the governing bodies of the national vice-champions of football, with a view to a 16th consecutive term in the four-year period 2024-2028
Until 20:00, at Estádio do Dragão, in Porto, members vote for the continuity of the 33rd maximum leader in the history of ‘blue and white’, who is the leader with the most titles and longevity in world football, or for the first turnaround of power since 1982.
FERNANDO VELUDO/ LUSA
Pinto da Costa, 86 years old, was elected separately several times, but will face opposition at the polls for the fourth time – and the second in a row with two opponents -, in the face of an unprecedented challenge to his sporting, financial or infrastructural management.
Businessman and professor Nuno Lobo (list C) is once again running to succeed the president of FC Porto (A), four years after being the third and last candidate with the most votes, while former coach André Villas-Boas (B ), who won four trophies for the ‘blue and white’ football team in the 2010/11 season, including the championship and Europa League, appears for the first time at the polls and establishes himself as the main face of the opposition.
These three lists compete for the leadership, the Board of the General Assembly and the Fiscal and Disciplinary Council, with Nuno Lobo abdicating the race for the Superior Council, which once again includes an autonomous movement led by the lawyer and professor Miguel Brás da Cunha (D).
A tense campaign, worsened by the bad moment of the current third-placed team in the I League, leaves a new participation record in sight, which has stood since 1988, when 10,731 members voted in the first of two successes for Pinto da Costa over José Martins Soares.
Renumbering your membership card is a mandatory condition for voting and can be done during the day until the polls close, leaving the size of the electoral universe uncertain.