Alvalade leader looking to renew his 2013 mandate

The president of Sporting Clube de Portugal, Bruno de Carvalho, announced on the 29th of December his intention to run for office again in the 4th of March 2017 elections.

Here is what the Alvalade boss said on his official Facebook page:

"I have decided to follow through with my intention, which I did not at any point deny, to again put myself forward as a candidate as president of Sporting Clube de Portugal, after a period of reflection. We are proud of what we have done and we have identified what we still want to do, after also looking at the other candidacy which has been presented and bearing in mind other possible projects. That, on top of hearing the encouraging words of thousands of fans in recent days.

"When I arrived at Sporting CP, in the circumstances that we all know about, the club was in a very difficult situation in economic and financial terms. We undertaken the necessary financial restructuring, recognised by everyone one as success, bringing back our external credibility. We have begun building the long desired João Rocha Arena, which we will open on the first quarter of 2017, bringing back all sports to Alvalade. We have gone beyond the 150,000 members milestone and we want to break into the top 3 clubs in the world in terms of numbers of members. We have brought back more fans to Estádio José Alvalade, achieving an average attendance of more than 40,000 spectators. Our youth teams, on all levels, are stronger. Both SAD and the club have turned over their best ever profits. We have claimed victories in football, recovering from Sporting CP's worst finish ever to win the Portuguese Cup and Supercup. In other sports, we have won various titles, including two European trophies. We are building quality squads in every sport. In the last transfer window, we made the two biggest ever sales in the club's history, one of which was the biggest ever price for a Portuguese player playing in Portugal. All of that, together with the opening of Sporting TV.

There is still a lot to do and during this period of reflection I have identified not only what has not gone so well, but also those things which we could have done better and which have to be improved.

I am doing this for the club I love and which I always will. I have worked 24 hours a day for the past 4 years to serve Sporting CP and I will continue to do so while I am here. The next few years a crucial for consolidating what we have done over the last four. Going back now would be fatal for our club. It is an honour and a privilege to be the president of our club. Considering the work which we are doing day in day out, I ask you to understand that the club cannot come to a halt just because the electoral period has begun. The board and our governing bodies have been given a mandate by the club's members to work, not to go on election campaigns. Respect must come from everybody. Let's make this election an example of democracy, so that we don't give our adversaries the chance to degrade us.

Viva Sporting Clube de Portugal!!!"