The ex-footballer Rui Costa, who spent as a player for Benfica, Milan and Fiorentina, assumes the presidency of the Lisbon club since this Friday, since its previous president, Luis Filipe Vieira, has been detained since July 7, for suspicions of tax fraud and money laundering, among other crimes.
According to a Benfica statement, the club's management supports “unanimously” the appointment of Rui Costa, once Vieira announced through his lawyer that he was suspending “with immediate effect” his functions as president of the embodied club.
The hitherto leader of the ‘incarnates’, 72, was arrested along with three other people, one of them his son, as part of the operation 'Red Card', which aims to clarify possible fraudulent deals of more than 100 million euros.
Since the day of the arrests, on July 7, Scallop, who had been in the presidency since 2003, has already spent two nights in jail waiting for the judge to take his statement.