Boavista president Rui Garrido Pereira said on Saturday that the club has secured the funds needed for its recovery operation and is waiting, with cautious optimism, for an agreement with creditors that would allow the Portuguese club to reopen.
Speaking on the sidelines of celebrations marking Boavista’s 123rd anniversary, Garrido Pereira said the club has no magic solution but is committed to continuing work toward reopening. He added that a recovery plan had been presented to creditors before the club’s closure, taking into account changes to the creditor base that occurred in June.
Garrido Pereira said the efforts of Boavista supporters, in particular through the Save Boavista movement, had made it possible to gather the financial conditions needed for the operation over the coming months, until the recovery plan is approved.
Insolvency administrator acted too quickly, president says
The president said it would have been normal for the recovery plan, presented before the closure was ordered, to suspend any decision until a creditors’ assembly could be held. He said the insolvency administrator did not see it that way and closed the club the following day. Boavista subsequently filed a submission with the court explaining that the funds needed to cover the operation for the coming months had already been secured.
Garrido Pereira said the objective is not to buy time but to wait for the plan to be voted on favourably so that Boavista can enter a recovery process. He also called for the Porto city council to be involved in the negotiations.
He expressed hope that an agreement could be reached during September, noting that August is traditionally a holiday period. He said the intention from that point would be for any payments to be made within the recovery plan on a monthly basis, in an orderly way, rather than as one-off donations as has been the case until now.
Senior football left out of the plan
Senior football remains outside the current recovery framework. Garrido Pereira explained that the club had fielded a senior team the previous year to provide a pathway for young players not yet ready for professional football, but that the collapse of the professional operation and transfer bans imposed on the SAD meant the club could no longer register a team or players, through no fault of its own.
The anniversary celebrations included the raising of the club flag, preceded by the Boavista anthem and a rendition of the birthday song, both performed a cappella beside the Panther statue at Estadio do Bessa. Dozens of members of all ages attended, along with former club officials including Tavares Rijo and Alvaro Braga Junior.
