Africa-Press – Angola. The remains of the former leader and co-founder of 1o de Maio de Benguela, Rui Araújo, will be buried next Tuesday (10), in the old Camunda cemetery, on the outskirts of this city.
Rui Araújo passed away on Saturday, at the age of 87, due to illness, in the city of Benguela.
The funeral ceremonies for the former vice-president of the national champions in 1983 and 1985 begin this morning, at the 1° de Maio Pavilion, where the wake will take place, in the presence of family, athletes, management, former athletes, fans and other citizens.
Around 2 pm on Tuesday, the hearse containing Rui Araújo’s remains moves in a procession to the old Camunda cemetery.
The general director of the most titled association in the province of Benguela in Girabola, Manuel Puna, guarantees that everything is in place to hold a dignified funeral, worthy of the figure of the late Rui Araújo.
“The conditions have been created and we want to say goodbye in the way he always liked: at a party”, he stressed.
He announced the presence of the large 1° de Maio family of Benguela, namely the new generation athletes, the former champions of the 1983 and 1985 editions of Girabola, such as Sarmento, Daniel, André Zuzi, as well as local clubs such as Sporting, Nacional and Academic of Lobito.
Statue of Rui Araújo on view
The idea of building a statue, at the club’s headquarters, to honor Rui Araújo, deserves, for now, a good reception from the general director of the proletarians.
“We lost a driving force behind the club, who had a special way of bringing together synergies among the people of Benguelense around our formation”, he recalled, admitting that the management agrees with that idea, because the failure was the 1st of May in person.
By building a statue, Manuel Puna believes that it would be more practical to transmit the legacy of the deceased to new and future generations.
Champion for the 1st of May in 1983 and 1985, Fuso Nkosy laments the physical disappearance of Rui Araújo and speaks of an enormous sadness that shakes the entire association.
“He was a father to us and he was the one who welcomed us here, in Benguela, when we came from the former Zaíre (current Democratic Congo), in 1983”, he recalled, assuming that he was the only survivor in Benguela of the group of veterans, who also it included Sarmento and André Zuzi.
Fuso Nkosy regrets that death interrupted Rui Araújo’s dream of putting 1° de Maio back in the first division and also suggests that his name be given to the club’s headquarters.
Morgado Paulo, head of the proletarian cheer squad, believes that 1° de Maio de Benguela lost a charismatic leader who was always available to the sporting community, whatever the difficulties.
Journalist Joaquim Lázaro encourages the management of 1° de Maio to move forward with the idea of making a statue, as Rui Araújo was a co-founder of the club and a prominent figure in the province of Benguela.
Águas da Silva, coach of Sporting de Benguela and former player trained in the 1°de Maio squad, highlighted the feeling of sadness felt by all sportspeople in the province of Benguela and the country.
“Rui Araújo is a symbol of national sport. We lost an encyclopedia that will be remembered forever”, he said, speaking nostalgically about the times he worked with Rui Araújo, first, as an athlete in training and, later, as a coach.
Sports driving
The president of the Benguela Provincial Football Association describes Rui Araújo as a person who responds quickly in any situation, while at the same time praising his sporting leadership.
For him, Rui Araújo will be remembered as an eternal leader of 1° de Maio, but also runner-up in Africa.
“For me, he was one of the best sports managers in the country”, he said, visibly sad.
According to him, Rui Araújo leaves a legacy in training people and as a football “guru”, with his tricks to keep the team in the football elite.
Under the leadership of Rui Araújo, in 1994, 1o de Maio de Benguela reached the final in the third edition of the old African Cup Winners’ Cup, won by Seguro Bendel from Nigeria.
Rui Araújo was present in the greatest achievements of the 1st of May in Benguela, as national champion in 1983 and 1985 and winner of the Angola Cup in 1982, 1983 and 2007.
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