THEY HAD BEEN WARNED THAT THEY were in bandit country. It was easy to believe, too, given that the former club president was under house arrest awaiting trial for fraud, but this was Benfica and, despite the murky politics, the cigar-puffing intrigue and the unpaid tax bills, it was too tempting an offer to miss.
Two years later, in a restaurant owned by the actor, John Malkovich, on the Lisbon waterfront, two of the men responsible for the new Benfica stadium have just cause to be glad that they ignored the pessimists who warned them to stay away. They are the architects behind what fans are calling a new cathedral, a 65,000-seat monument to crimson passion and the venue for next year’s European Championship final.
It is also something of a minor miracle as the recent past of this once-great club has encompassed dodgy property sales, a £60 million debt, the payment of phantom services and Joao Vale e Azevedo being jailed for 4½ years; during his trial last year it was alleged that he had pocketed money from the transfer of a Russian goalkeeper to buy a luxury yacht. There must have been times when Barry Lowe and Damon Lavelle, the senior principal and principal of HKO Sport, the world’s largest sports architecture firm, wondered if there would be an Estádio Da Luz at the end of the tunnel.
“I wanted the arch on the roof to be much higher but they were worried about planes,” Lavelle, who led a team of architects on the project, said. “I set up a meeting to fight my case and they came over. Unfortunately, the date was September 11, 2001.”
All of which makes one wonder how the lustrous new edifice rose from the ashes of the old Stadium of Light. It is the same story all over Portugal, where ten new arenas will host Euro 2004. It is bold, ambitious and potentially disastrous. At least two of the projects are running hopelessly over budget, one is three months behind schedule and there is the fear that, when the bunting has been taken down, Portugal will be left with a herd of white elephants rather than a field of dreams. “We design stadiums inside out,” Lowe said. “You have to make it functional but then you can make it special.”
The key, Lavelle says, is in leaving a legacy. HKO’s other Euro 2004 stadium is in Faro on the Algarve. In February England will play a friendly in this unique arena, with its sail-like canopies and cleverly worked nautical theme. “We can take most of the seats out at either end, making it perfect for concerts,” he said. “We’ve spoken to Harvey Goldsmith (the music promoter) about it and he is very excited.”
The two local mayors have backed the scheme and a hospital and athletics track are being built. Lavelle also hopes Faro may become a training camp for professional clubs. Nevertheless, stories of architects decking out their dreams with marble corridors have set the alarm bells ringing. One stadium has even been built in a quarry with a sheer rock face behind one goal. “If Beckham misses, the ball will bounce back to him,” Lavelle quipped.
Benfica is a special case. At the inaugural match last week to mark the completion of the stadium, Lavelle sat in the presidential box with half the Portuguese Cabinet. Perhaps this explains why the Government was prepared to give the club a £16 million grant, having spent two years fighting them over non-payment of taxes. “Most of the country supports the club,” Lowe said. It may also explain why Vale e Azevedo was not arrested until he had stepped down as the club president. The notion that football provides immunity was leant credence when, having been picked up by the fraud squad, Vale e Azevedo was still allowed to reside at his plush home with its wine cellar and swimming pool. Even during my time with Lavelle, it was notable that some of the richest men in Portugal made a beeline for him to shake his hand and thank him for his stadium.
Money, though, remains a source of contention and the candidates for Friday’s presidential elections at Benfica could give no assurances about the future, even if the sale of the naming rights for the stands to Coca-Cola, Portuguese Telecom and the Sagres brewery has been a huge help. The good news is that Benfica’s new home is simply stunning. Ernie Walker, the Scottish chairman of Uefa’s stadium committee, said: “My God, it takes your breath away. It’s a cathedral, a cathedral of football. There’s no doubt about it.”
Better news still is that HKO are the people behind the new Wembley and Arsenal’s home-to-be at Ashburton Grove. They hope that those stadiums will bring about a sea-change in attitudes to sports architecture in Great Britain. “At home everything is about getting the cost down,” Lowe said. “But it’s really about getting the balance between something that looks wonderful and working within a realistic budget.”
That was a message that was not always easy to convey to Ken Bates, the former Chelsea patriarch, with whom HKO worked on the North Stand at Stamford Bridge. Lowe recalled: “There would be meetings and Ken would walk in and say ‘right, I don’t know you and I don’t know you — get out’. Someone would explain they were the men with the facts and figures, but it made no difference.”
The fears, frustration and run-ins with hard-nosed mavericks faded away on a rain-doused night last Saturday in Lisbon when Benfica played their inaugural game in their new home. This being Portugal, the match nearly did not take place. Nacional, of Montevideo, the Uruguayan opponents, were in the throes of a dispute over salary arrears, but it was resolved and the cavernous bowl became a Christmas tree as the lights were dimmed and thousands shone the micro-torches encased in their membership cards.
Only time will tell whether Portugal and the Benfiquistas have truly seen the light or paid an impossible price for romance.
