“ Million dollar payment for Vasco Seabra? It will not condition anything”

A president of Rio Ave, Alexandrina Cruz, considers that the investment made to hire Coach Vasco Seabra to Arouca represents a motivation and not an increased pressure for the new coach of the I League football team.

In an interview with the agency Lusa, the leader addressed the hiring of the Portuguese technician, 43 years old, who signed until 2029, after the club paid the termination clause provided for in the contract with Arouca, about one million euros.

Asked about the financial weight of the operation, Alexandrina Cruz removed the possibility of investment conditioning the coach's work.

“It will not condition anything. I think it'll be a lot of motivation. The entrance of Vasco [Seabra] was a thought-out entrance. He is a deep connoisseur of Portuguese football, a highly competitive man”, said the leader of Rio Ave, considering that the technician has “the desired profile for the sports project of the group”.

The president, who has known the coach for several years, has shown that she has been positively surprised by the early days of work.

“ I've known Vasco for many years, but this first week of work has surprised me by the dynamic he's imposed. What did I ask you? The first thing was to win already on Sunday [front to National]”, shared.

About the departure of Sotiris Silaidopoulos, Alexandrina Cruz thanked the work of the Greek technician, but recognized that the lack of results weighed in the decision.

“ He was always very concerned about the club, always very involved. We thank you as a person and as a professional, but it is inevitable when there are no results. This ‘business’ [of football] does not live without victories”, he said.

The leader addressed the relationship with the Greek investor Evangelos Marinakis, also owner of Olympiacos, Greece, and Nottingham Forest, England, arguing that there is a convergence of interests between the club and SAD.

“It is not difficult to be president of the club and SAD, because I only have one goal and concern, which is the success of Rio Ave”, assured.

Alexandrina Cruz also rejected the fact that the integration into a group with clubs in Portugal, England and Greece makes the Ave River a mere warehouse of players.

“Football, like any other business, has to have this ability to reinvent itself, but I do not see the club as a warehouse. It is a business integrated into a group of clubs, a social aspect, sports and, of course, financial. We have more than 1000 athletes and much is from Vila do Conde ", stressed to Lusa.

Asked about the possibility that the connection to the Greek investor would harm the Ave River in the image it projects, and more specifically in the treatment with arbitration, the president dismissed this interpretation.

“ I do not think we are harmed by this, but in the meetings we had with the Arbitration Council, always very positive and open, we made it clear that the investment that was being made in Rio Ave is also an investment that was being made in Portuguese football ", he explained.

Despite expressing concern for recent polemics in arbitration, Alexandrina Cruz believes that the work developed by the Portuguese Football Federation may produce improvements.

“Arbitrage also has to follow this evolution. Naturally I am concerned about certain things that have been public, but I would very much like us to talk less and less about arbitration”, he concluded.