Benfica president Rui Costa has submitted a petition to the Assembly of the Republic seeking to suspend the centralized commercialization of professional football TV rights.
The club revealed the initiative after Costa presented the document on Friday as the first subscriber under Portugal's constitutional right of petition.
The initiative proposes halting the implementation of the model until an independent technical, economic, and legal evaluation takes place. It also calls for a complete revision of the planned solutions.
Once validated, the petition will remain open for public subscription on the parliament's electronic platform for about 60 days. The petition states that a reform of this scale requires solid technical foundations, transparency, responsibility, and broad participation from clubs and industry figures.
Market changes and economic risks
In a statement released by Benfica, the club argued that the audiovisual market has undergone a deep transformation due to technological shifts and changing consumer habits. The statement also cited a lack of structural reforms to value Portuguese football and warned of potential losses to economic and asset value.
Benfica also proposed that the share capital of the entity handling centralization must stay under the ownership and control of professional clubs. The initiative maintains that any modification must protect club revenues, investment capacity, financial sustainability, and competitiveness.
