FC Porto communications director, Francisco J. Marques, has accused the Portuguese champions Benfica of using witchcraft to win the league titles for two years.
Marques told local TV channel, Porto, that he saw emails that Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira and Dr. Armando Nhaga, the national Police Commissioner of Guinea-Bissau, exchanged earlier this year regarding agreements for witchcraft services.
“In 2015-16, Benfica spent €75,000 (£65,945) to fix the Championship [using sorcery],” he told reporters.
Marques also claimed that Nhaga warned Benfica that they might not win a fourth straight league title, if the club did not increase their payments for using their services with respect to the 2015/2016 campaign.
The Porto chief claimed he saw an email that Nhaga sent to Vieira which said: “Regarding the 2016-17 campaign, which starts on Aug. 7 with the [Portuguese] Supercup, it could be a close fight for the [league] title, in which Benfica can make history.
“This entails the urgent need to reach a mutual agreement to provide services for the parties.”
Nhaga then reportedly sent an itemised list of fees for his services for the season – including €100,000 (£88,000) to win the league title and a fee of €30,000 (£26,398) for every Champions League knockout game.
Benfica lost 4-0 at Borussia Dortmund on March 8 to be eliminated from the Champions League round of 16.
Marques alleged that after the loss, Vieira sent an e-mail to Nhaga asking “what happened?”
Nhaga replied that he was not “in Guinea at the time and that whoever was dealing with it [alleged sorcery] did not do it at the right time,” but reportedly said: “However, now we are going to concentrate on what is essential, which is the league title and the Portuguese Cup. I thank you for your understanding and this will not happen again.”
Marques expressed his disgust at the revelations.
“We are talking about witchcraft,” he said.
“Hundreds of thousands of euros were spent on that.
“I don’t know what to make of this.
“This calls into question the coach, the players, but also [club executives] Paulo Goncalves and Pedro Guerra.
“There are people that in order to win, anything goes.”
Benfica won a record fourth straight Portuguese league title in May with one game to spare and also lifted the Portuguese Cup after beating Vitoria Guimaraes 2-1. Attachments area
Comments