Former Portuguese champions Boavista banished to the amateur leagues | OneFootball

Boavista Futebol Clube, champions of Portugal in 2000/2001 and regular participants in the UEFA Champions League at the turn of the century, have been thrown out of the professional pyramid of Portuguese football.

The club’s dire financial straits have prevented it from complying with the requirements of the Portuguese Football Federation to take part in its national competitions, and the Porto outfit have hence been demoted to the district leagues.

The club have three days to appeal against the decision. If they do so, the announcement of the fixture schedule of Liga 3 – where Boavista were due to play next season – will be delayed until a final ruling is made.

This latest setback in what has been a tremendous struggle for the club to keep its head above water in recent years comes in the wake of Boavista’s declaration of bankruptcy.

“Boavista SAD has been forced into the only legal route that will allow its full restructuring: the declaration of insolvency with a view to its financial recovery,” read a press release published yesterday.

When Gérard Lopez became the main investor in Boavista in 2021 many of the club’s fans thought the Axadrezados would finally be on the road back to becoming a force again in the country, but the arrival of the Luxembourgish businessman has only worsened matters.

Prevented from signing players in the last five transfer windows owing to unpaid debts, Boavista finally lost their heroic battle against relegation from Portugal’s top flight in 2024/25, finishing bottom of the league.

Worse was to follow with further financial mismanagement leading to the club being prevented from taking its place in Liga 2 and “administratively relegated” to Liga 3 by the football authorities. As it stands, even a berth in Liga 3 is out of reach.

If the decision is confirmed, Boavista’s place in the third tier will be taken by Marco de Canaveses.