Manuel Damásio Soares Garcia (born 9 July 1940),
known as Manuel Damásio, is a Portuguese businessman who served as the
30th president of sports club
Benfica.
Born in
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, Damásio was elected president of Benfica on 7 January 1994 with 87% of the votes, defeating candidate and friend José Capristano. Shortly after succeeding
Jorge de Brito, Benfica won the
Portuguese league title in
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
. Damásio then started a campaign to attract new members to the club to overcome financial difficulties,
raising the number of associates from 83,000 to 150,000. He also tried to lower the club's debt with
Parmalat
Parmalat S.p.A. is an Italian dairy and food corporation which is a subsidiary of French multinational company Lactalis. It was founded by Calisto Tanzi in 1961.
Having become the leading global company in the production of long-life milk us ...
as a sponsor; however, it did not help much.
Along with the help of Abílio Rodrigues and Gaspar Ramos, Damásio transformed Benfica's football department. His choice of football coaches was not fortunate: he signed
Artur Jorge,
Paulo Autuori
Paulo Autuori de Mello (born 25 August 1956), known as Paulo Autuori, is a Brazilian football executive and coach. He is the current manager of Peruvian club Sporting Cristal.
Early life
A football fan since early childhood and a futsal player ...
, and
Manuel José,
with
Mário Wilson serving as interim coach, thrice. In terms of players, Damásio spent a lot of money in failed signings, such as
Nelo
Nelo (MAR Kayaks Ltda) is a Portuguese company that designs and manufactures kayaks and canoe
A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or ...
,
José Tavares José Tavares may refer to:
* José Tavares (politician) (1949-2021), Brazilian politician
* José Tavares (footballer) (born 1966), Portuguese football midfielder
See also
* José Tabares (born 1978), Argentine football striker
{{hndis, Tava ...
,
Paulo Nunes, and
Donizete, among over 100 signings.
Despite the lack of football titles, which led to the termination of Damásio's three-year term in June 1996, he was reelected for another triennial term, which ended abruptly one year later. He left Benfica following new early elections and was succeeded by
João Vale e Azevedo
João António de Araújo Vale e Azevedo (born 17 May 1957) is a Portuguese former lawyer who was the 31st president of sports club S.L. Benfica.
In relation to his three-year club presidency, he was convicted of embezzlement, document forge ...
on 31 October 1997.
References
1940 births
Living people
Businesspeople from Lisbon
S.L. Benfica presidents
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