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Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa

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Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa
Pinto da Costa in 2012
31st President of FC Porto
In office
23 April 1982 – 7 May 2024
Vice PresidentAdelino Caldeira
Alípio Fernandes
Eduardo Valente
Emídio Gomes
Fernando Gomes
Preceded byAmérico Gomes de Sá
Succeeded byAndré Villas-Boas
President of the Portuguese Professional Football League
In office
13 July 1995 – 23 December 1996
Preceded byManuel Damásio
Succeeded byValentim Loureiro
Personal details
Born (1937-12-28) 28 December 1937 (age 86)
Cedofeita, Porto, Portugal
Spouses
Manuela Graça
(m. 1964; div. 1997)
Filomena Morais
(m. 2007; div. 2012)
Fernanda Miranda
(m. 2012; div. 2016)
Cláudia Campo
(m. 2023)
Children2
ProfessionBusinessman
Signature

Jorge Nuno de Lima Pinto da Costa (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʒɔɾʒɨ ˈnunu ˈpĩtu ðɐ ˈkɔʃtɐ]; born 28 December 1937) is the former president of Portuguese sports club Porto from 1982 until 2024.[1] He is the president with most titles won (69) and most days in charge in world football.[2][3] He was involved in the Portuguese football corruption scandal Apito Dourado,[4] from which he was eventually absolved in April 2009[1][5] after receiving a two-year suspension and a €10,000 fine in May 2008.[6][7][8]

Early years

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Pinto da Costa was born in Porto, the son of José Alexandrino Teixeira da Costa and Maria Elisa Bessa Lima de Amorim Pinto, who fathered other four children, including future forensic pathologist José Eduardo.[9]

In his late teens, Pinto da Costa started working as a bank teller. He began collaborating with Porto, while keeping his day job; in 1953, on his 16th birthday, his maternal grandmother registered him as a club associate and he was a frequent attender of the team's football and roller hockey games, eventually going on to work in directorial capacities in the latter department, in his early 20s.

Directorial beginnings

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Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa's career at Porto started when he was just 20 years old, after accepting the club's invitation to join the rink hockey administrative commission. In 1962, he became chief of the rink hockey department, a job he would eventually accumulate after also taking over as chief of the boxing department in 1967. In 1969, he integrated Afonso Pinto de Magalhães's Chairman candidacy list as Head of all Amateur Departments. Their list won the elections and he held the job for the three following years. Despite being invited by future president Américo de Sá to join his then candidacy list, he refused the offer as he felt the candidate should bring forward a renewed list. He left the club in 1971 after Pinto de Magalhães's mandate was over.[10]

Return

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In 1976, Porto's most popular department, association football, was facing the longest title drought in the club's history, having not won the Primeira Liga for 19 years. This period coincided with the rise of neighbors Boavista, who under the guidance of Pinto da Costa's friend and Porto's former player and coach, José Maria Pedroto, would win later that season the Taça de Portugal.

On the same night, Porto's transfer target Brazilian player Amarildo, fled to city rivals Boavista at the last-minute; Pinto da Costa was provoked by friends, some of whom were directors of Boavista, with allegations that Boavista had surpassed Porto as the city's major sporting force. He considered this an outrage and vowed on that night to return to his beloved club. Soon after, he contacted then Porto's chairman Américo de Sá and both arranged his return through the formers re-election list, this time as director of football. Before the elections, he agreed terms with José Maria Pedroto, who was still coaching Boavista at the time. In May 1976, chairman Américo de Sá was re-elected and Pinto da Costa returned to the club as director of football, alongside Pedroto as a coach.[11]

Rise and first victories

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It was under Pinto da Costa's and José Maria Pedroto's guidance that, in 1976–77, Porto won the Taça de Portugal, their first silverware in 18 years. During the following season, their success continued when they finally broke their 19-year-old title drought and won the 1977–78 league. The 1978–79 season would mark a back-to-back league title for both men. Subsequently, though, in 1980 after failing a third title in a row, internal disputes regarding other sporting departments having too much influence in Porto football section led to their resignation. Following their resignation 15 first team players refused to play for the club. This specific period of time is dubbed as "Verão Quente" (Hot summer).[12]

Pinto da Costa and Pedroto, Chairman and Manager

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On 17 April 1982, following internal disputes in Porto, Pinto da Costa was elected the 31st Chairman of the club and took office on 23 April.[3][13] He chose Pedroto as the association football manager and this partnership was to have a lasting effect on Porto's whole structure. Pedroto was a visionary, a highly talented football player whose charisma as coach was unique. Under Pedroto, in 1984, Porto reached its first European final. Porto lost 2–1 to Juventus in Basel, in the Cup Winners' Cup final. By then, Pedroto was already ill, having been diagnosed with cancer. He would resign his duties and died shortly afterwards, in 1985.

European Champions

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Artur Jorge was appointed as Pedroto's replacement, and European recognition would finally come under his spell. In 1987, Porto faced Bayern Munich for the European Cup final. At half-time, Bayern took a 1–0 lead. But the rookie Portuguese side would come back to claim a historic victory. Algerian Rabah Madjer scored with his heel to draw the match, and Juary later sealed the 2–1 win that ensured Porto the biggest feat of its near centenary history.

Years of domestic success - association football

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Domestic success continued to be a hallmark of Porto in subsequent years, and 1995–99 became the highest note of Portuguese domestic competition ever, following titles by Bobby Robson (1995 and 1996) and António Oliveira (1997 and 1998); Fernando Santos captured a record-setting fifth consecutive title in 1999.

Porto later achieved second place in the championship, but won the 2000 and 2001 Portuguese Cups (whilst reaching the European quarter-finals in both seasons), only to replace Fernando Santos with Octávio Machado. Octávio however only had a short stint at Porto. His replacement would be José Mourinho.

1999 Sweep

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In the end of the 1998–99 season, Porto swept the Portuguese professional sports by winning all the competitions in which it had a professional team: football, handball, basketball and rink hockey. It also won the swimming national championship, which made a total of five championship titles in the same year. In Portugal, it was called the "double penta",[citation needed] making reference to the five consecutive championships in football.

José Mourinho era

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Mourinho joined Porto in January 2002, the club was in fifth place on the table. Mourinho would ensure a UEFA Cup berth for the following season, ending the league in third. The summer of 2002 saw a lot of movement on the transfer market by Porto. The bets consisted mainly on Portuguese players playing in Portugal, yet to prove their true worth, as well as, for the most part, little known foreigners. It most certainly worked, and such was Mourinho's impressive work in Porto, that he managed to lead the club to two glorious seasons in 2003 and 2004, wrapping up consecutive Portuguese titles and a UEFA Cup and Champions League in quick succession. During this period, Pinto da Costa remained somewhat in Mourinho's shadow and allowed him a very firm grip on all matters regarding football.

Post-Mourinho era

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Victory in the Champions League final in 2004 meant that Mourinho left Porto, looking for another challenge in a bigger league. He was replaced by Luigi Del Neri, who only lasted four weeks on the job. In came Victor Fernandez, who qualified the club for the Champions League last 16 and won the Intercontinental Cup. He was sacked in late January 2005 following a home defeat to Braga, which saw the club lose the championship lead. José Couceiro took over and led the club to a final standing of second in the league. He subsequently resigned his post.

In late May 2005, Co Adriaanse, the former coach of Willem II, Ajax and AZ Alkmaar, was appointed as the new Porto coach.

Under his guidance, Porto became an attacking team and the results were mixed, solid performances mixed with severe defensive flaws. European results, in particular, were terrible, and Porto suffered a humiliating exit from the UEFA Champions League in the group stage.

However, Adriaanse still guided Porto to a domestic double, wrapping up the title with two games to spare, and beating Vitória de Setúbal in the Cup final.

Adriaanse resigned before the start of the 2006–07 season, due to internal disputes with the club's board, and was subsequently replaced by former Benfica and Braga manager Jesualdo Ferreira, who had only just joined arch-rivals Boavista that season, and left without managing a single competitive match for Boavista. With him, Porto won the league three consecutive times in 2006–07, 2007–08 and 2008–09.

In the 2010–11 season, with André Villas-Boas, Porto won the Portuguese SuperCup, the Portuguese title, the UEFA Europa League and the Portuguese Cup.

From 2013 to 2017, he failed to conquer any silverware, contributing to the biggest hiatus during his presidency.[14]

Apito Dourado affair

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Pinto da Costa was one of the people investigated by the police as part of the Apito Dourado (Golden Whistle) sports corruption scandal in Portuguese football.[15] The investigation caused him to flee to Spain with his then partner Carolina Salgado in order to avoid detention in 2004.[16] He was formally accused of corruption on 12 June 2007, along with Reinaldo Teles, another member of Porto's administration.[17]

Following the inquiry, Pinto da Costa vowed to appeal the two-year ban placed on him by the LPFP's Discipline Committee in order to clear both his and the club's names. In a short interview, he stated: "We will not appeal the points deductions and we will still have a 14 or 15-point lead. But Porto's honour will be salvaged because I, personally, as president and a citizen, will appeal on Monday to the Justice Council. After this appeal, we will wait to see the truth come out and it will allow us to show there is no reason for Porto to have been penalised."[18]

In early April 2009, Pinto da Costa was declared innocent in all allegations relating to bribery or any case dealing with Apito Dourado.[5][19]

Later, on 21 January 2010, the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã revealed that many of the wiretapped phone calls in the Apito Dourado scandal were made public on YouTube.[20]

In May 2011, the decision made by the LPFP's Discipline Committee that initially punished Porto (six points were deducted) and Pinto da Costa (suspended for two years) was declared void and was thus annulled by the Administrative Court of Lisbon.[21] Porto recovered those points in July 2017.[22]

Football honours

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Domestic

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International

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In December 2011, he won the "Director's Career" and "Director of the Year" awards at the Globe Soccer Awards hosted in Dubai.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b "30 anos de FC Pinto da Costa - Expresso.pt". expresso.sapo.pt. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Pinto da Costa, o presidente há mais tempo na liderança de um clube". Público (in Portuguese). 13 January 2017. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b Soares, António (17 April 2024). "Faz hoje 42 anos que Pinto da Costa foi eleito presidente do F. C. Porto" [Today marks 42 years since Pinto da Costa was elected president of F. C. Porto]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  4. ^ Vernet-Riera, Josep (21 January 2010). "FC Porto: Leaked Phone Taps Proof in Major Corruption Scandal". Bleacher Report.
  5. ^ a b Rainho, Pedro (6 January 2016). "Pinto da Costa. Trinta anos de fintas à Justiça" [Pinto da Costa. Thirty years dribbling Justice]. Jornal i (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Pinto da Costa condenado com dois anos de suspensão" [Pinto da Costa condemned with two-year suspension]. Jornal de Negócios (in Portuguese). 9 May 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Porto not admitted to Champions League". UEFA. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  8. ^ "FC Porto perde seis pontos" [FC Porto lose six points]. UEFA (in Portuguese). 9 May 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  9. ^ José Eduardo Pinto da Costa - Universidade do Porto biography; Sigarra.up (in Portuguese)
  10. ^ “Pinto da Costa 75th birthday”; Noticiasaominuto (in Portuguese)
  11. ^ Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa - History and Victories[permanent dead link]; oliveiradobairro.net (in Portuguese)
  12. ^ FC Porto. O Verão quente de 1980, que esfriou a relação no futebol (FC Porto. 1980's hot summer, when football relations turned cold) Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine; IOnline, 6 August 2010 (in Portuguese)
  13. ^ "President". FC Porto. Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  14. ^ "O maior jejum da era Pinto da Costa" [The biggest fasting in Pinto da Costa era] (in Portuguese). Record. 17 May 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  15. ^ "Golden Whistle" case makes progress in Portugal; People's Daily Online, 13 December 2006
  16. ^ "Apito Dourado: Carolina Salgado confirma que Pinto da Costa foi avisado dos mandados de busca e detenção" [Carolina Salgado confirms that Pinto da Costa was warned of search and arrest warrants]. Público (in Portuguese). 18 December 2007. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  17. ^ Pinto da Costa e Reinaldo Teles acusados de corrupção (Pinto da Costa and Reinaldo Teles accused of corruption) Archived 2007-07-11 at the Wayback Machine; Record, 12 March 2007 (in Portuguese)
  18. ^ “Final Whistle” corruption fall-out: Porto president to fight ban Archived 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine; PortuGOAL
  19. ^ Platini e Pinto da Costa amigos outra vez (Platini and Pinto da Costa friends again); AEIOU Expresso, 19 May 2011 (in Portuguese)
  20. ^ "Escutas do Apito já podem ser ouvidas na net".
  21. ^ "PINTO DA COSTA e TRIBUNAL ADMINISTRATIVO - Tribunal declara inexistente castigo a Pinto da Costa - Maisfutebol.iol.pt". www.maisfutebol.iol.pt. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  22. ^ "Justiça desportiva iliba Pinto da Costa no caso Apito Final" [Sports justice exonerates Pinto da Costa in the Apito Final affair]. Jornal de Negócios (in Portuguese). 15 July 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  23. ^ "Champions League history". Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
  24. ^ "Europa League history". Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
  25. ^ "Super Cup history". Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). July 2021.
  26. ^ "Pinto da Costa, Cristiano Ronaldo e Jorge Mendes distinguidos nos Globe Soccer Awards - SIC Notícias". Archived from the original on 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2013-01-22. (in Portuguese)

See also

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