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Photo: O País
The president of Desportivo Maputo acknowledged yesterday that the board of the club he runs was considering his resignation, adding that he would prefer to leave the decision to the executive, who attended an ordinary board meeting today.
In an exclusive interview with ‘O País’, Paulo Ratilal addressed the resignation of João Figueiredo as chairman of the Board of the General Assembly of Desportivo Maputo after it proved impossible to hold a general assembly of the club last Saturday, June 18th.
João Figueiredo departed his position with the warning that ‘Raça Alvi Negra’ [a group of fans] is making the centenary sports club ungovernable, and that there are obscure interests in the collective’s real estate assets.
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The president of Desportivo Maputo said he would take the same position as Figueiredo.
“Naturally, I received the information with great sadness, because he [Joao Figueiredo] is a very serious person, who lent Desportivo a lot of credibility. But it’s probably not surprising given the situation the club finds itself in. I would say that I would have done the same, if I were the president of the assembly repeatedly trying to hold general assemblies to no avail,” Ratilal said.
After the failure to hold Saturday’s general assembly, João Figueiredo sent his resignation to the vice-president of the General Assembly of Grupo Desportivo Maputo, António Grispos. In his resignation letter, Figueiredo presented “personal reasons” for the decision, following the events that took place at the General Assembly scheduled for last Saturday.
“… I submit this resignation within the global framework that has characterised the last General Assemblies of the GDM, and whose facts are of public knowledge, in these terms, and considering that the minimum and adequate conditions are not met for me to remain in my duties, which with great honour and pride I have been performing at the club. I inform Your Excellency that this resignation is irrevocable and takes immediate effect,” Figueiredo wrote.
Ratilal said the vacancy left by João Figueiredo would be filled by António Grispos, formerly vice-president of the General Assembly of Grupo Desportivo de Maputo.
Ratilal says he does not understand the reasons for the sabotage wrought by the “Raça Alvi-negra”, even after an apparently harmonious environment brought about by the withdrawal in the Attorney General’s Office of charges against members who vandalised club premises at the end of last year.
“I’m not going to say that I’m not going to resign, because that [resigning] is the will, because there’s no desire to be in front of that club, but this has to be done in a responsible way, and it’s not just resigning that will resolve the problem. Naturally, I have a board meeting scheduled for this Wednesday with my peers. Let’s discuss this matter [then],” Ratilal said.
Going further, Ratilal said it was “obvious that all the other presidents who resigned before me did so probably for the same reasons, that is, because some members of the association generate this type of confusion, and sabotage the normal work process. What has actually happened is that the situation at Desportivo Maputo has worsened,” he said.
He adds that the current climate at the ‘Eagle’ club made him suspect machinations surrounding the sale of the club’s real estate assets.
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One hundred years of Grupo Desportivo de Maputo
By Zaituna Migano
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