Aitor Elizegi called yesterday to the press in San Mamés to take stock of the assembly of compromisarios partners last Saturday. Assembly in which he closed the door to stand for reelection in June. The rojiblanco chief executive officer, who was accompanied by his board accountant Jon Ander de las Fuentes, took advantage of this appearance to assure, among other things, that “the 2018 elections (to the Ibaigane chair) have never ended, something that it is good, healthy or necessary ”.
It was not the only message from Elizegi for his predecessors at the helm of Athletic. “Our way of understanding the club contrasts in some respects with approaches and events that we have experienced recently. When there has been an opportunity and the debate has arisen about the exit of a sports asset, this board of directors rather than talk, what it has done is done. It is to consolidate that sporting asset and keep it in the project. That is what this board of directors has done in these three years. Another big difference, ”he explained.
The reading of these words comes to be that while Javi Martínez, Herrera, Laporte and Kepa left Athletic during the Urrutia stage via payment of the termination clause, Iñaki Williams remained in the rojiblanco club despite having had the possibility of remaining identical path. A contradiction, until yesterday at least, of the current directive because his accountant had affirmed days ago in an interview with El Correo that the Williams contract was out of the market.
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De las Fuentes himself intervened in this matter for a week later to clarify concepts. “At no time and in no interview have I said that the renewal of Iñaki Williams is out of the market. In that interview they asked me if the Athletic players were overpaid and I put into context what the Athletic situation was and what football was ”.
The accountant of the Elizegi board added, among other things, that “I did use a phrase that said that in some circumstances it may happen that you are forced to have contracts and some of them are above average, which does not mean that be out of market. And furthermore, I qualified, they can be positions in which you have no capacity to replace them ”. De las Fuentes was hurt because “Iñaki I appreciate as a person and later as a player. He has been put in the trigger with this issue, which was totally decontextualized. I know that it has affected him personally, I have asked his forgiveness and I have tried to clarify that ”.
-The presidential vision-
When asked if this feeling of internal contradiction on the same issue cannot distort the final message that reaches the rojiblanco partner, Elizegi indicated that “what contradicts you sometimes is doing what you don’t say. We are all owners and the directors of Athletic now and in the future inherit successes and mistakes ”.
At this point, the president clarified “but one finds the team in decline and leaves it in Europe, with three finals. That is our goal. Other directives, on the other hand, find the team in Europe and leave it on the decline. It is the difference between contradicting oneself or not ”.
Elizegi continued with her explanation in this regard: “It is not Iñaki Williams; It is Unai Simón, Yeray, Yuri, Iñigo; not to mention almost twenty of our lower categories, 182 male and female players recruited in Lezama during these three years “. The president’s idea is” to leave enough tools and assets in Lezama to start from day 1 not with constraints, but being able to demand that they face the challenges that they demand of us. They ask us to occupy the noble area of the table and also to look out over Europe ”.
Before concluding this question, Elizegi clarified that “I just wanted to say that surely the next board would prefer more to have a capable staff than a large provision”.
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