Boavista loses Bessa stadium after creditors reject rescue plan

As reported by the Portuguese financial daily Jornal de Negocios on Friday, the plan to save local rival FC Porto was rejected during Thursday's meeting of the club's creditors.

The club, which won the Portuguese football championship in the 2000/01 season, had been in high debt for several years. According to the newspaper, at the beginning of September this year they exceeded the level of EUR 150 million.

It is true that in September last year the liquidation of Boavista was approved, but the club operated on the basis of an agreement with creditors, committing to gradually repay debts. However, he had problems with this.

Boavista was one of the oldest Portuguese clubs. Nicknamed "Panters" and "Szachownice", the club, which was founded in 1903, in the last season brought together almost 1,500 players playing in 31 sports sections.

According to "Jornal de Negocios", during the next meeting of the club's creditors, the sale of the Bessa sports complex, where Boavista has played for years, is to be approved for EUR 33 million. Its purchaser was one of the investment funds based in Lisbon.

Bessa Stadium was thoroughly modernized in 2003 in connection with the European Football Championships held in Portugal a year later. The facility can accommodate over 28,000. viewers.

Boavista, which was relegated from the 1st league in 2025, was relegated the following season by the authorities of the Portuguese second league because it did not meet the financial criteria. Soon she withdrew completely from football competitions.