“Sport Lisboa e Benfica confirms the carrying out of searches as part of an investigation that does not have the club as its object and which is covered by judicial secrecy,” Benfica said in a statement posted on its website.

On the grounds that the searches by the Políica Judiciária (PJ) force are not targeted at Benfica itself, the club said, it was any interpretations that involve its name in the process are “totally speculative”.

The PJ on Tuesday carried out searches at Benfica’s quoted sports management company, or SAD, and at the home of the club’s chairman, Luís Felipe Vieira, as part of Operation Atlantic Route, a source linked to the case told Lusa.

The operation also included a search of the home and office of former judge Rui Rangel, the home of his former wife, Fátima Galante, and the home of José Sousa Martins, a lawyer, and his son, the source said.

The operation is to include some 30 searches, and some people have already been detained, the source added.

According to the same source, the crime being investigated is graft, along with other related white-collar crimes.

The office of Portugal’s attorney-general earlier on Tuesday confirmed to Lusa that searches had been ordered at various premises in Lisbon as part of Operation Atlantic Route, which in 2016 expanded an existing investigation into Rangel.