Works on Monte da Forca will move forward

The announcement was made by the Mayor of Vila Real, Alexandre Favaios, at a press conference, stating that “the launch of the public tender has already been approved at a council meeting”.

“It is a historic moment and the launch of a project that the district has been aiming for for a long time”, he said, highlighting that “there are, in fact, problems in that infrastructure that have been getting worse over the years”.

The mayor recalled that this is an investment of around 2.2 million euros, “to which another project will be added, in order to improve the conditions in terms of energy efficiency and lighting of the venue, which no longer meets the necessary requirements for holding games”.

At this moment, “and as soon as there is a green light from the Court of Auditors, we will launch the public tender”, said Alexandre Favaios, indicating that “the deadline for completion of the work is 365 days”.

The works at Monte da Forca will create a Football Academy. The current pitch, which will be refurbished, will be joined by another one, there will be four changing rooms, two of which will have capacity for 24 people and the others for 18 people, a medical office, an anti-doping room and a car park. In addition, the AFVR headquarters will also be located there.

“It is a project that will serve the entire district of Vila Real, improving the conditions for our young people to practice sports”, stresses Alexandre Favaios.

On the AFVR side, António José Marques speaks of the “culmination of a lengthy process”, but which “will have a happy ending”.

“This was our goal and a dream”, confesses the president of AFVR, highlighting that “sports infrastructures in Portugal are not enough for what is needed”.

When asked about the reality of the district, António José Marques does not hide the fact that “we have clubs that work in a quarter of the field or in half the field and providing training like this, compared to clubs that have other conditions, is difficult”. Thus, “the step we have taken here today is an added value”, however, “it will not be enough to solve all the problems. This is something that happens at a national level”.

Despite all the difficulties, “since 2015 we have been growing by 5% per year. We currently have around five thousand federated athletes”, highlights the person in charge, explaining that the new academy “will be able to be used by everyone, following a time bank, with a view to responsible use”.

SC VILA REAL

On the day that Sport Clube de Vila Real celebrated its 105th anniversary, and its president, Hugo Letra, expressed interest in seeing the senior team play at the Monte da Forca Sports Complex next season. When asked about this possibility, Alexandre Favaios said, on the sidelines of the press conference, that “this will be possible, until the construction work begins”.

“Once the works begin, it is the contractor’s responsibility to decide whether or not the team continues to play there. On the local authority’s side, we will coordinate the availability for this, trying to ensure that Vila Real can play there for as long as possible”, said the mayor, highlighting that “an intervention will be carried out at Monte da Forca with the aim of allowing Vila Real to start the sports season there”.