FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
"Lightning in the open sky" in the historic club! Portuguese justice has filed a lawsuit against Benfica and the club's former managers for corruption offenses committed between 2016 and 2019 with the aim of "fixing" and "manipulating" matches.
The public prosecutor's office filed charges against former club president Luis Filipe Vieira and his former legal adviser Paulo Goncalves, as well as former directors of Vitoria de Setubal, for alleged criminal offenses of corruption and tax fraud.
Benfika is accused of active corruption in connection with the criminal offense of improper provision of advantages and tax fraud. Vitoria de Setubal was charged with passive corruption related to the crime of obtaining an unjustified advantage and serious tax fraud.
Vieira, who led the club for 18 years until his arrest in July 2021 as part of another fraud-related case, arranged player transfers with Vitoria to financially benefit the club from Setubal, according to the indictment. In return, Vitoria allowed Benfica two league games.
Benfica is said to have paid 1.3 million euros to Vitoria through player purchase and loan deals. Lawyer Paulo Goncalves denied the accusations of the state prosecution, evaluating them as "surreal" and without "legal basis".
" This accusation is surreal and based on a theory without factual and legal basis. In fact, none of the procedures described there constitutes a criminal offense, much less a criminal offense of corruption. At no time have we exceeded the functions and instructions entrusted to me at that time ", Goncalves reacted in a statement.
He provided legal advice to Benfica between 2007 and 2018. The prosecution requested that, if convicted, Vieira be banned from exercising any sporting function for five years and Benfica banned from sporting competitions. The club said the suspicions are related to acts attributed to the former president and his former adviser. " Benfica will defend itself, without hesitation, against all baseless accusations ", it is written in the statement of the Benfica club.
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