Francisco Salgado Zenha, Fernando Gomes and Domingos Soares de Oliveira are the new names announced for the event, which will take place between the 18th and 20th of November, at the Super Bock Arena - Pavilhão Rosa Mota (Porto)

The Thinking Football Summit 2022 panel continues to take shape and, this Tuesday, we announce the names of three more speakers who will be attending the last major event to be held on European soil ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.

This way, the most recent additions for the grand Professional Football convention are: Francisco Salgado Zenha, Vice-President of Sporting CP, Fernando Gomes, Director of FC Porto's SAD (Public Limited Company), and Domingos Soares de Oliveira, CEO of SL Benfica.

Three major names on the national scene, who promise to brighten up the grand Professional Football Summit even more. Thus, and as far as Francisco Salgado Zenha is concerned, he has been a member of Sporting CP's Board of Directors since September 2018, being responsible for the Finance Department, Human Resources, International Affairs and Investor Relations. As Financial Administrator, his main role is to develop and supervise the execution of the financial plan, leading the accounting, planning and control, internal audit and treasury teams to ensure adequate financial reporting, process control and risk management.

Francisco worked in the Capital Markets division at Barclays Bank, where he spent 12 years in London and Madrid as a consultant on balance sheet and fixed income solutions for financial institutions. His main tasks were to advise on investment opportunities for the largest Iberian asset management branches, banks, insurance companies, pension funds and family offices, as well as developing solutions to optimise bank and insurance company balance sheets. He was head of credit and loan products, and balance sheet solutions consultant for the Portuguese financial institutional market until 2018. He has participated in major transactions such as complex product development for asset management companies, as well as helping to optimise asset management of mutual and pension funds, investment portfolios of insurance companies and banking books for asset and liability management.

Fernando Gomes will also attend the Thinking Football Summit 2022. He graduated in Economics from the University of Porto and was Mayor of the Porto city between 1989 and 1999, when he accepted the position of Minister of Internal Administration in António Guterres' governmental mandate. Among the initiatives developed during his terms, the following stand out: the inauguration of the City Park (1993), the categorisation of the Historic Centre of Porto as Cultural Heritage of Humanity (1996) and the adjudication of the construction of the Porto City's subway rails (1998).

He remained as Member of the Parliament until May 2005, when he was appointed as Executive Director of Galp, being in charge of the Galp Power and Galp Exploração, as well as the company Sóturis, dealing with all the real estate assets of the renowned oil company. He is currently the administrator at FC Porto's SAD, a position he took up in 2014, having been, among other distinctions, awarded with the Grand-Cross of the Order of Infante D. Henrique of Portugal and the Grand-Cross of the Order of Merit of Portugal.

Last but not least, Domingos Soares de Oliveira is the name that completes the new panel of confirmed speakers at the Thinking Football Summit 2022. He has been the CEO of the Benfica Group since 2004, and a member of the Board of Directors of the European Club Association since 2017. His academic studies were mainly conducted in France, at the University Paris XI and at the Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires (INSEAD), while his professional experience has enabled Soares de Oliveira to live in different countries including Spain, France and Brazil. Before joining SL Benfica in 2004, he was CEO of Cap Gemini Spain and Portugal.

As CEO of SL Benfica, he is responsible for the Football Department, Youth Development, Marketing, Sales, Finance, Administration, IT, Infrastructure, HR, Planning and Control, Communication and Media. During his career, Soares de Oliveira has been invited to participate in events around the world, sharing his experience in the transformation of SL Benfica throughout more than a decade.

More than an international event, which is expected to be highly successful for the Portuguese Professional Football, the Thinking Football Summit, scheduled to take place between the 18th and 20th of November 2022, at the Super Bock Arena - Pavilhão Rosa Mota (Porto), will welcome some of the best national and international protagonists in the world of football, with debates around the major subjects of this sport, promoting a better understanding and higher visibility of this industry.

Do not waste any more time and book your place now at the grand professional football summit! The sale of the three-day tickets for the event will now be entering a new phase during the months of January and February, as they can be purchased with a special discount of €45, for the general public, and €60, after the recent launch of the student ticket.