"Black page in which Benfica has no responsibility"

PRESS CONFERENCE

The President of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Rui Costa, considered the events that took place on the night of November 27 at the Estádio Nacional as "a black page in national football", that affects the "sport and the country itself" and underlined that "the two clubs were forced to play".

"We regret what happened in Jamor, this black page of Portuguese football and of the country itself. Under no circumstances was Benfica heard in the process of considering whether to hold this match. Benfica complied with the regulations, it was obliged to do so, and so was B SAD. If Benfica did not step onto the pitch, it would lose the points. We should all be ashamed of what happened, but under no circumstances is Benfica responsible for what happened. The two entities that could postpone this game, the Directorate-General of Health and the League, didn't do it, Benfica could not postpone the match", he said.

"Benfica was already ready to play without knowing who was going to play. There was no formalization from the League or B SAD about the cancellation of the game. Benfica is oblivious to this situation, I know perfectly well the state that the president of B SAD is in because last year this happened to us. We even had to play with 35 people at home, most of them were players, we jeopardized the Championship because of COVID-19, we lost a League Cup final because of COVID-19 and I regret this situation", he stressed.