Benfica Faces Runoff Election as Rui Costa's Majority Evaporates

A hush of surprise ran through Lisbon’s football circles this weekend as Rui Costa, the former midfield maestro turned Sport Lisboa e Benfica president, discovered that club members were far less unanimous than four years ago. With every ballot box now tallied, the incumbent enters a November run-off carrying a lead that looks anything but comfortable and a mandate that suddenly feels negotiable.

A Shockwave Inside the Luz

Benfica supporters arrived at the Estádio da Luz expecting a routine coronation, but the record 85 000-plus, dues-paying sócios sent a different message. By the midpoint of the count Costa appeared solid, sitting on 44.63 %, yet the final aggregation dragged him down to 42.13 %. The drop, modest on paper, was dramatic in symbolism: under the club’s overhauled statutes, anything below 50 % forces a second ballot. For a president once elected with nearly 90 % backing, the erosion of trust is impossible to ignore. Long-time insiders note that Benfica have endured an uneven domestic campaign, early European elimination and persistent debate over corporate governance—issues that, stitched together, dented the aura of continuity Costa’s team had banked on.

How the Numbers Finally Settled

When the last of the 108 voting sections closed, six tickets shared the pie. Costa’s Lista G retained first place with 744 655 electronic votes, trailed by João Noronha Lopes’s Lista F on 534 818—equivalent to 30.26 %. Former strongman Luís Filipe Vieira returned to the fray but mustered just 13.86 %, while academic outsider João Diogo Manteigas rode a student-driven wave to 11.48 %. Two smaller challengers, Martim Mayer and Cristóvão Carvalho, split the leftovers. Turnout smashed the previous high set in 2020 and confirms that Benfica’s base, spanning mainland Portugal and an emigrant diaspora, remains the most mobilised in national sport.

Why the Incumbent Lost Altitude

Several factors loom large. First, the glow of 2022’s domestic double has faded; Benfica’s senior squad wobbled in autumn fixtures and left the Champions League before Christmas, a sore spot for fans who have watched rivals Porto and Sporting ink lucrative European cheques. Second, the club’s new corporate governance charter, championed by Costa himself, gave members a louder voice on spending transparency and debt strategy—ironically empowering sceptics who feel the board’s modus operandi still resembles the old guard. Third, Noronha Lopes capitalised on frustration over Benfica’s multiclub affiliations abroad, arguing that satellite partnerships in Brazil, USA and Belgium drain focus from the Lisbon mothership. Add social-media fatigue with marketing-led slogans and you have a recipe for a far closer race than pundits in August imagined.

What the Second Round Looks Like

Under the recently revised statutes, only the top two finishers return to the booths. Campaigning restarted at dawn on 28 October, giving each camp barely ten days to persuade undecided members. All socios who held a paid-up quota in September remain eligible to vote—even those absent from the first round. The ballot will again mix paper and secure digital terminals across continental Portugal, Madeira, the Azores and select diaspora hubs such as Paris, Geneva and Newark. Should one candidate withdraw, the other is proclaimed outright, but both camps insist they will fight on. The crux of strategy now lies with the 13.86 % Vieira bloc and the 11.48 % Manteigas voters, a substantial swing constituency that could rewrite the club’s immediate future.

Why the Outcome Matters Beyond Benfica

Whatever happens on 8 November will ripple across Portuguese football finance. Benfica’s presidency controls annual revenues north of €350 M, a nationwide scouting web and one of Iberia’s most valuable media rights packages. A continuity mandate would likely preserve Costa’s plan to expand the Seixal academy and float a minority stake of Benfica SAD on the New York market; a Noronha Lopes victory could pivot toward domestic consolidation and tighter spending. Broadcasters, sponsors and even LaLiga-linked investors are watching: Benfica’s share of Liga Portugal audiences shapes negotiations for the league-wide centralised TV deal pencilled for 2028. In short, the presidency is no mere ceremonial post; it is a seat that influences how money, talent and prestige circulate through the entire Portuguese game.

What Supporters Should Know Now

Voters looking to confirm their eligibility can already consult the club’s official portal. Overseas members may request a digital authentication code up to 72 hours before polls open, while in-person booths will operate from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lisbon time on election day. The club pledges real-time disclosure of turnout figures, yet result publication—exactly like the first round—will wait until all diaspora boxes arrive at the Luz warehouse. For supporters, casual fans and sponsorship directors alike, the message is clear: the next eleven days will decide whether Benfica doubles down on its current roadmap or attempts a mid-course correction led by a new face in the presidential box.