LISBON - Diehard fans of Portugal's Premier League soccer club Benfica can now rest in peace knowing they can be buried at a discount thanks to a deal signed between the club and the country's largest undertaker’s agency.
In addition to a 12.5 percent rebate, the ultimate advantages for card-carrying Benfica fans also include having the club's anthem performed during the funeral ceremony, having the club's official logo chiselled on coffins or urns, as well as having the Benfica flag laid over the receptacle.
"Given the massive passion that Benfica instils, it made sense to go and talk to them to bring the club into funeral ceremonies in a professional way," Paulo Carreira, assistant director general at Servilusa funeral home, told Reuters.
The Guinness Book of Records considered Benfica the most widely supported football club in the world in 2006, with 160,398 paid-up members.
"Funerals are part of life and the discount can be important to soften families' financial burden these days, given the economic crisis we are in," said Carreira, who does not support any particular club.
He added that Servilusa does not rule out broadening the offer to other clubs in the future.