Luís Filipe Ferreira Vieira (born 22 June 1949) is a Portuguese real estate businessman who was the 33rd president of sports club Benfica, from 31 October 2003 to 15 July 2021.
He was also president of the club's SAD board of directors until July 2021, when he was arrested in operation "Red Card" (Portuguese: Cartão Vermelho).
Vieira was born on 22 June 1949 in Bairro das Furnas, São Domingos de Benfica, to Benvinda Ferreira (mother), a factory worker, and Fernando Mendes Vieira, a construction worker.
Vieira started his professional career in the tire industry, where he got the nickname "Kadhafi dos pneus" (Kadhafi of tires). Afterwards, he asserted himself in the construction industry; along with two partners, he funded Obriverca in 1985, which was considered one of Portugal's biggest construction companies. In 2008, seven years after leaving the company, Vieira was ranked by Portuguese magazine Exame as the 74th wealthiest person in Portugal, with a fortune of €162 million, mostly due to his real estate business called Grupo Inland. This company belongs to business group Promovalor, managed by his son, Tiago, and of which Vieira is chairman of the board of directors.
On 31 January 2018, the Portuguese Attorney General's Office confirmed Vieira as a formal suspect (arguido) in Operação Lex (Operation Lex) for influence peddling. In 2018, Vieira had allegedly promised then judge (and neighbour) Rui Rangel a position at Benfica in return for an alleged influence on a pending lawsuit related to a company belonging to Vieira's family.
By May 2021, Vieira was considered the second-biggest debtor of Novo Banco, with a debt of €440 million related to Promovalor.
In May 1991, Vieira became president of football club Alverca, a position he held for ten years. In May 2001, he suspended his presidency and left the club to join Benfica as an adviser for its SAD, at a time when he was a paying member (sócio) of Benfica rivals Sporting CP and Porto, and had made several deals with the latter club as president of Alverca.
On 31 October 2003, Vieira was elected 33rd president of Benfica, with 90,47% of the votes of its members, thus succeeding Manuel Vilarinho, who had beaten João Vale e Azevedo in 2000. With the support of Vilarinho, Vieira defeated candidates Jaime Antunes and Guerra Madaleno in the club's first use of electronic voting. Months later, Benfica won their first trophy in eight years, the Portuguese Cup, with manager José Antonio Camacho.
On 2 June 2005, Vieira threatened to resign if Benfica did not achieve 300,000 members until October that year. With Giovanni Trapattoni as manager in the 2004–05 season, Benfica won the Portuguese League, ending an eleven-year drought. In the 2005–06 season, with manager Ronald Koeman, Benfica won the Portuguese Super Cup and reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, knocking out defending champions Liverpool.
On 27 October 2006, Vieira ran uncontested and was reelected for a second term, receiving 95.6% of the votes. Back in September 2006, Vieira had stated, "Benfica's debt does not scare anyone, let Benfica get to 2011 and you will see that Benfica will be a European colossus, not to say worldwide". In addition, he had reminded his ambition of making Benfica European champions again. In November, with 160,398 paying members, Benfica was recognized by the Guinness World Records as "the most widely supported football club".
For the 2006–07 season, Vieira signed manager Fernando Santos, whose contract would not last long. Following a trophyless season, Santos was sacked after his first league match of the season, eventually being replaced by Camacho, who returned to the club. From then to the 2008–09 season, Benfica finished fourth and third in the league, respectively, and won the second edition of the League Cup with manager Quique Sánchez Flores. At financial level, Benfica SAD started to be listed on the Portuguese stock exchange Euronext Lisbon in May 2007.
On 3 July 2009, after dismissing the club's governing bodies on 8 June to call early elections, Vieira was reelected with 91.74% of the votes, defeating Bruno Costa Carvalho, who got 2.98%, in a total of 20,672 voters. Before winning the elections, Vieira promised a more winning term in football; in his previous one, Benfica did not achieve better than a third-place finish in the league and one League Cup trophy. In the first year of his third term, with Jorge Jesus as manager, Benfica won the Portuguese League and their second League Cup. In the two following seasons, the team would retain the League Cup, reach the quarter-finals of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, and finish second in the league, twice.
Vieira, after being contested by members of Benfica following the team's elimination against Braga in the semi-finals of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, stated, "I am not held on to the presidency of Benfica." Back in late April 2010, slightly more than 100 members of Benfica had approved the new statutes of the club with 95% of the votes, in which the most notable changes were the requirement of 25 years of continuous membership as an adult for presidential candidates (they must be at least 43 years old), the extension of the presidential term from three to four years, and the extension from 20 to 50 votes for effective members with more than 25 years of membership.
On 28 September 2012, Vieira became the second president of Benfica to have the club's annual accounts voted down by its members, after Manuel Damásio in 1997. Benfica presented an €11 million loss, despite heavy earnings in the previous UEFA Champions League campaign and through the sales of players such as Fábio Coentrão and Roberto. Vieira was asked to resign by members of Benfica. On 13 October, he ran for a fourth term, announcing the goal of winning three Portuguese League titles, of reaching one European final in football, and of winning a total of 50 championship titles in other sports. He also promised to broadcast Benfica's home league matches on Benfica TV, thus not renewing the club's contract with Joaquim Oliveira's Olivedesportos. Prior to club elections, a group of Benfica members, including the candidate list led by Rui Rangel, questioned Vieira's membership years with the club.
On 26 October, Vieira was reelected with 83.02% of votes, defeating Rui Rangel, who got 13.83%. One day before, Vieira had said that lowering Benfica's debt was not a priority. Later, on 7 December, he surpassed Bento Mântua as the longest-serving president at Benfica. In the first year of his fourth term, Benfica finished second in the league and were runners-up in both the Portuguese Cup and UEFA Europa League; manager Jesus was contested but remained at the club for two more seasons. In the 2013–14 season, Benfica achieved an unprecedented treble of Portuguese League, Portuguese Cup and League Cup, and were again runners-up in the UEFA Europa League. Benfica's overall performance in the 2014–15 season was considered positive, as Vieira was just one football league title away from his 2012 silverware promise, dubbed "3+1+50". Financially, in early October 2016, after the 2015–16 season, Benfica reported total assets of €416 million, an increase of 14.2%, and total liabilities of €495 million, an increase of 6.1%.
On 27 October 2016, without opponents for a second time, Vieira was reelected for a fifth term, receiving 95.52% of votes – 12,503 voters in a total of 13,257. In March 2017, prior to Benfica's clinching of the league title, Vieira stated "We [Benfica] are 10 years ahead of the competition [other Portuguese clubs]", promising to lower Benfica's debt by €200 million in two years. Then, on July, following Benfica's first four league titles in a row (tetra), he said, "Until we do not have control over the debt, we will not stop selling" and later underscored that "one can mortgage a title, but not the club's future".
Later, in September, in a heated general assembly of the club, following the 5–0 away defeat to Basel in the Champions League, Vieira was contested (and insulted) by some members of Benfica. He told all those present to believe in the Portuguese title (now lost) and replied to a resignation request: "I will be here [at Benfica] for many and many years to come." In early November, despite the continuation of Benfica's bad season start, Vieira reinforced his confidence in manager Vitória by saying, "There is no [negative] result that will take Rui Vitória away from this project." Later in February 2018, he stated, "When I leave Benfica, surely I will be poorer, not richer."