Bruno de Carvalho speaks at 53rd Stromp Awards Gala

The 53rd Stromp Awards Gala took place this Friday, in Lisbon's Hotel Sheraton. Bruno de Carvalho was of course in attendance, along with Rui Patrício, Adrien Silva, William Carvalho, Rúben Semedo, João Matos, Patrícia Mamona and Ângelo Girão.

The Alvalade president was invited to take to the stage at the event and he didn't shy away from speaking about the Doyen case. "Everyone knows that Sporting CP has taken a few hits over the last few days. In fact not just Sporting CP, but also national and word football. If you ask me if the Doyen case was worth it, well I said in the club's general assembly that what we were doing came with risks. For me and for the club, the doyen case is a matter of principle. Sporting CP fulfills every contract, but the Doyen contract for us was not valid", said Bruno de Carvalho, adding: "I still think that it is worth defending Sporting CP. We have lost the notion that we are right and that UEFA and FIFA were on our side. World football is too twisted right now for us to carry on pacifically. Despite this defeat, we have fulfilled our financial fair play obligations and Sporting CP has made a profit of 63 million euros."

Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland rejects Alvalade appeal

In light of the decision by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, which Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol SAD learnt of today, the club notes the following:
 
1 – The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland has rejected the appeal made by Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol, SAD in relation to the so-called “Doyen case”. To this end, the sentence issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled that Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol, SAD must pay 12 million euros to Doyen (plus interest), is confirmed..
 
2 – Situations such as this are part may reasons which have forced the president of Sporting CP to publicly manifest the shameful state in which football currently finds itself.
 
3 – Despite our conviction that reason is on our side - which is proven by the support of FIFA and UEFA on various occasion's for Sporting CP's position in relation to the issue of funds in general - it was made clear on various occasions in the club's and SAD's General Assemblies that this process could be lost.
 
4 – Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol, SAD reiterates that the financial impacts of this process have already been integrated into the club's financial results and do not represent any risks whatsoever, including those associated with players transfers or compliance with Fair Play regulations.

Bruno de Carvalho speaks with So Foot

Speaking in an interview with the French sports publication ‘So Foot’, Bruno de Carvalho once again took aim at partnerships between clubs and external investment, making a damning evaluation of the club's loses to funds.

"When Sporting CP worked with funds, we lost more than 100 million euros. When we stopped doing business with them, we began making a profit. We had to take the malignant cells out of Sporting CP", affirmed the Alvalade president, going on to speak about the involvement of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a process against funds: "Why do I have to face Doyen in the Court of Arbitration for Sport? What do they know about football contracts?"

To finish, Bruno de Carvalho reaffirmed his determination to revolutionise Portuguese football: "I want to see football as a sport that reflects the values of our society. How can we just sit back and relax when people think we are thieves and corrupt people? I have two children and honestly I don't want them to see their father like that."

In line with its legal obligations, Sporting Clube de Portugal, Futebol, SAD has communicated its results to the Market Securities Commission for the final period of 2015, with a negative result of 18 million euros.

In order to avoid speculations based on a lack of information in relation to the results which have been presented, we note that the results are conditioned by two factors: 1. an unfavorable ruling in the case Doyen vs SCP; 2. elimination from the Champions League in the play-off round in circumstances which have previously been commented on.

We note that the impact of the ruling in the Doyen case is, at this time, provisionary, as the period for appeal is on-going. We would also like to highlight the influence of revenue generated by the team's excellent performance in Liga NOS, as well as the new commercial contracts negotiated by this administration, towards returning to a positive result during the next phase of reporting.

Bruno de Carvalho speaks with L'Équipe on funds

The Sporting president, Bruno de Carvalho, gave an extensive interview with L’Équipe this week, focusing in on one of the hot topics un world football today: funds.

“Why have I declared war on funds? Well, I don't know if you could call it a war. We are fundamentally against the large-scale injection of money into football when we don't know where it comes from. Funds always make a profit, transferring both good and bad players. There is a minimum of three things that we want: to evaluate past and present experiences, so that we can stop football from going down this path without measuring the consequences; to know exactly who the partners of these funds are and where the money comes from; and that it be made clear that funds cannot interfere in the management of clubs in anyway whatsoever", opened the Alvalade leader.

Carvalho went on to warn of the dangers clubs spending beyond their means, fueled by funds: “Funds create a dependency. It is a bit like selling drugs, where your clients start to need more and more. You fall into a vicious cycle: more debt, more funds, more debt. Of course these are good and bad funds, but it needs to be made clear which are which. We can't invest three million euros in a player, only to find out later that we owe fifteen million. When I was elected president, 95% of our players belonged to funds and we were experiencing the worst returns in our history, with debts of 500 million euros. People thought we could survive three months. The following season we qualified for the Champions League again. After cuting our relationship with funds we improved on the pitch and we balanced the books."

Bruno de Carvalho also reflected on Sporting's case with Doyen: "Funds want to make money without taking any risks, but a true partner is one that shares the risks with you. For Doyen to be in partnership with us, they would have to change who is in change or where the money comes from. We are 100% right in the case, but there are a lot of innocent people behind bars and criminals on the street."