Arrested and placed in police custody for fraud on Wednesday, Luis Filipe Vieira ended up announcing his “temporary” withdrawal from the post of president of Benfica Lisbon on Friday.
In a statement, the club with 37 league titles in Portugal formalized the name of its temporary replacement: Rui Costa.
A logical choice, since the former Portuguese star is the announced successor of Vieira at the head of the Lisbon club.
A decision which therefore follows a new legal whirlwind for Luis Filipe Vieira.
At the head of Benfica Lisbon since 2003, the president had already been targeted by cases of money laundering, tax evasion, fraud and influence peddling.
But this new investigation, called "Red Card", could cause greater damage.
The prosecution is indeed conducting searches and investigating suspicions of breach of trust, aggravated fraud, falsification, tax evasion and money laundering.
Two other club members arrested
The 72-year-old businessman is accused of being involved in "business and financing transactions totaling more than 100 million euros which may have caused high losses for the state and several companies. ".
According to several local media, according to information from the prosecution, Luis Filipe Vieira would have harmed the club, the Portuguese State and the bank Novo Banco, from which he had made substantial loans.
But the president is not the only club member to be involved in this story.
Two other people were arrested: the eldest son of Vieira, the largest individual shareholder of the sporting limited company Benfica, and a lawyer active in player transfers.
