Frederico Nuno Faro Varandas (born 19 September 1979) is a Portuguese medical doctor and former commissioned military captain[3] of the Portuguese Army, who has been since 2018 the elected president of Sporting CP.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
Early life and career
Hailing from the Avenida de Roma area in Lisbon, in his childhood, he practised gymnastics at Sporting Clube de Portugal.[10] He studied medicine at the Medical School of the New University of Lisbon from where he graduated in medicine in 2005 as an external medical student since he was a pupil of the Portuguese Military Academy.[11] In 2008, as a lieutenant military doctor, he was deployed in Afghanistan with a detachment of Portuguese Commandos which was part of the International Security Assistance Force.[12][13][14][15]
From 2011 to 2018,[16] Varandas was the chief doctor of Sporting Portugal's main men's professional football team.[17] During the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal and the ensuing state of emergency, Varandas, already the incumbent president of Sporting Portugal, was voluntarily commissioned by the Serviço Nacional de Saúde (Portugal's National Health Service) as a doctor.[18][19]
While he was working in the capacity of president of Sporting CP, a financial restructuring was started by the sports club under his direction in 2019 and included the successful renegotiation of bank debt resorting to a debt relief, as well as the repurchasing of convertible debt belonging to Novobanco and BCP at a discount to par value, which was finalized in 2024.[20][21] This allowed Sporting Clube de Portugal to take ownership of 88 per cent of Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol, SAD's stock from 15 February 2024 onwards,[22] instead of the 83.90% it owned until that time.[23] For the 2022–2026 quadrennium, Frederico Varandas' administration started works of building renovation and modernization of the club's facilities at the José Alvalade Stadium and the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy.[24]
Personal life
Frederico Varandas is married to Katarina Larsson, a Sweden-born Portuguese former triathlete who competed for Sporting Clube de Portugal and Portugal in the triathlon, and with whom he has two children born in 2019 and 2023.[25][26][27][28][29] They first met each other at the sports club located in the Alvalade – Lumiar area of Lisbon.[30] They started dating in 2018.[31] Larsson has worked as supply chain manager for the Tetra Pak factory in Carnaxide, in the municipality of Oeiras.[32][33][34]
Captain