Bruno de Carvalho sits down the the press to close the last training session of the season

Of course present for Sporting's last training session of the season this week, Bruno de Carvalho took a moment with Sporting TV at the end of the day's work to reflect on the campaign.

"We had a reason full of highs. the players trained today as if it was the first day of the season. We didn't reach our objective, but we are really proud of what we did. Unfortunately we didn't finish in first, but we would do it all again right now, no problem at all," affirmed the Alvalade president, adding: "The fans were magnificent and all I can do is say thank you. The way we were supported in Alvalade after getting back from Braga was mutual recognition between the players and the fans. There is no point speculating now and all we want to do is get back to work."

Bruno de Carvalho finished with a promising look to the future: "Sporting is back, we are solid and focused. We did out job and we didn't let the pressure get to us. We are all really proud of what we achieve this season."

President takes part in university's Sports Week

Sporting's president was invited to speak as part of the Nova School of Business & Economic's Sports Week this Thursday, hosted in Universidade Nova de Lisboa's main auditorium. Student Association president Bernardo Branco Gonçalves took on the role of moderator for the session covering issues ranging from the monopolisation of football, the introduction of new technologies, television rights and the massive growth in transfer fees.

Bruno de Carvalho actually started his career as a manager in the business world, where he picked up some of the fundamental skills for managing a modern football club. We have to understand what a club is. We are talking about something that involves a lot of emotion. Management has to be very professional, but of course an emotional touch is needed as well to coordinate everything. For us, the big challenge was moving away from the idea that fans are clients, bringing them back to feeling a connection with the club. I believe the strength of this institution is in its fans and if you take that away, then you take away the ability to generate profit."

The future naturally worries the Alvalade president, with the five main leagues around the continent dominating football. "If an elite league comes into being, then Portugal will be out of it. The Champions League will finish, because sponsors will go for that elite league instead. The Portuguese league would literally disappear", added Bruno de Carvalho.

Bruno de Carvalho on Football as a Science and Conscience

"I am here as a father, not as the president of Sporting Clube de Portugal.” That is how Bruno de Carvalho opened a powerful speech at the Future of Football International Congress this Tuesday, stepping in for Professor Manuel Sérgio at the last minute.

“Football is not just a world of emotions and reactions. We are going through a real crisis of values. Bringing together the science of football with a conscience of what football should be in terms of humanity is not easy", affirmed the Alvalade boss, going on to add a personal touch to his intervention: "My opinion is no secret. We need new paradigms and to change things for the better. How we look at life and how we should behave in sport is what will dictate our role as part of the thousands of people who are involved and the sport and the handful who actually make a difference."

Alvalade President leads presentation ceremony

Although the Sporting Foundation was actually founded back on the 20th of December 2011, it was with the election of Bruno de Carvalho for the leadership of the club that the Foundation found a new lease of life, helping the parts of society that most need our support.

After the Charity Training event that saw more than 8,000 presents donated to a children's home, the Sporting Foundation has now launched an innovative new product: the Friends of the Sporting Foundation Card. Costing just 10€ for a season, this is a fantastic way to contribute to the lives of the more than 20,000 youths and 200 associations that the Foundation works with.

Speaking at the launch of the initiative, President Bruno de Carvalho laid down signing up for the card as an obligation for all Sporting fans: "Foundations like this one exist to give opportunities and experiences to people and it is important that we all think about the work that the Sporting Foundation does. It has been one of the most important vehicles for showing the human element of the club and we want Sporting to be much more than just a sports institution. We think that the Sporting Foundation will be able to reach out to even more people with the help of the Friends of the Sporting Foundation Card, which is at the heart of what the Foundation was created to do."

Group of 70 children meet their favourite stars

Estádio José Alvalade hosted a group of children from Cantanhede, in the district of Coimbra this weekend, in a visit attended by Rui Patrício and Bruno César.

For the Sporting goalkeeper, the youngsters had more than earned the meeting with their favourite stars, after traveling 219km to the Portuguese capital. “This type of initiatives are really important for the kids. Being a fan of a club is something that starts when we are young. It is really special for us as players to be with them when they visit the stadium and the museum", said Rui Patrício at the end of the visit.

The Cantanhede Primary School's coordinator, Maria do Céu Pinto, also enjoyed the day: "It was an hour to meet President Bruno de Carvalho, with Rui Patrício and Bruno César. We are really thankful. Most of the kids are in their first year of school and they had never been anywhere near the players before. We are really happy with Sporting having accepted our visit."

President Bruno de Carvalho speaks with A Bola

Bruno de Carvalho gave an extensive interview with the sports newspaper A Bola this weekend, as part of his third anniversary as Alvalade president.

Bruno de Carvalho spoke about everything from refereeing to his relationship with coach Jorge Jesus, then moving on to the deal struck with NOS and running again come the end of his mandate. You can find the full interview here. 

Sporting CP President speaks on negotations with NOS

President Bruno de Carvalho sat down for an interview with Forbes Portugal this week, where he spoke about the centralisation of television rights and the deal made with NOS.

The interview with Joaqui Madrinha and Luís Leitão can be found here. 

FIFA elections

It is with great pleasure that I congratulate Gianni Infantino for his election as the President of FIFA.

The new President's success will be shared by everybody who is working to recover the good name and credibility of football.

The new FIFA President was, in his previous roles, a voice for us to the sport's governing bodies who wanted to listen to Sporting Clube de Portugal's proposals. His willingness to take on board new ideas was obvious, along with his drive to contribute to the modernisation, credibility and dignity o football, particularly in the regulation of agent and the introduction of video referees.

Ceremony in Alvalade in preparation for Rio 2016

The Artur Agostinho Auditorium in Estádio José Alvalade hosted the club's very own Olympic Committee this week, in the build up to Rio 2016. A total of 28 of the project's 38 athletes were in attendance, to receive their Olympic diplomas from president Bruno de Carvalho himself. Alvalade's Olympic success often overlooked as being Portugal's own, but Sporting's brilliance on the world athletics stage is sure to stretch long into the future.

José Manuel Constantino, head the Portuguese Olympic Committee, was at the ceremony and thanked the Alvalade president for the chance to take part. Also pleased with Vicente Moura's (Sporting's vice-president for sports) recovery from a recent illness, Constantino expressed his satisfaction with Sporting's initiative: "Having the international capacity to help athletes get ready for the Olympics makes me really happy. Athletes come and go while institutions stay, but the truth is that institutions are built by people who have not only written part of our story, but also of the entire Olympic movement."

President Bruno de Carvalho also shared his thoughts at the gathering: "There is no other club as eclectic as us and we have kept that up even while having a lot of financial problems and being so close to becoming exclusively a football club. That isn't what we are and we turned that around to bring even more sports to the club. I want everyone of them to be perfectly aware of the importance that we we give to the history of the club. This will be the 20th time we have been in the Olympics out of 24 editions of the competition."

Today, the Referees Association (APAF), Players Syndicate (SJPF) and Coaches Association (ANTF) began an initiative called ON THE PITCH WE PLAY THE SAME GAME. The idea is to bring the three groups together with the clubs.

Sessions with coaches and technical staff to elaborate on refereeing and other issues will also be held.

Sporting Clube de Portugal was chosen to open the programme, due to the club's work over the last two and a half years to work to bring credibility and modernity to football.

The work put in to defend a modern modern, transparent and fair sport is recognised by everyone.

The banning of funds and the introduction of new technologies are fantastic victories and Sporting Clube de Portugal is proud to have contributed.

Today, in the presence of the president of the APAF, José Fontelas Gomes, the president of the Players Syndicate, Joaquim Evangelista, and the initiative's ambassador,  Duarte Gomes, was extremely positive and Sporting Clube de Portugal's door will always be open.