Pepe Castro wins the first battle against Del Nido for power

The Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting of Sevilla began with controversy hours before its start. Former president José María del Nido requested that the small shareholders, the group Accionistas Unidos, which had expressed its intention to vote in favor of President José Castro, could not do so due to a formal defect in the presentation of their shares.

Thus, after 6:20 pm the meeting began with the following attendance: 192 shareholders present, 2,506 represented, which is equivalent to 91,331 shares. Or what is the same, a quorum of 88.27%. This was followed by Castro’s institutional speech, until he was interrupted by José María del Nido to show his disagreement with the share count. The notary of the Shareholders’ Meeting intervened: “It is within my mission in this act to previously address this Meeting about whether there is any kind of reservation regarding those attending it.” In this way, the count offered by the club was confirmed.

However, Del Nido insisted: “Yesterday I received a communication from the first vice president of the entity (his son) in which he told me that he had met with the president to inform me that he was going to vote in favor of all the points proposed by the Council and against all those proposed by my group. My question is very simple. Will I exercise my right to vote with my shares with freedom of discretion? ” Castro replied: “Each point will be discussed at every moment of the Board, your question has already been answered.” One of the members of the Del Nido group insisted on the question of the vote of the former president, to which Castro replied in the same terms used previously.

After the first mess, Castro was finally able to start with his speech: “We are here to account for the 20/21 campaign, possibly the most atypical in our history. Despite this, we were once again ambitious by reinforcing the squad with players from We prioritized keeping the group in the face of the difficulties that came and we achieved the objective of the campaign brilliantly. The season we analyzed was the best in our history in terms of scoring. The sports balance cannot be more than satisfactory. I have been asked a lot when we are going to win a league. My answer is that we are on the way to that. Do not expect me to sell smoke or give high-sounding headlines that only lead to frustration. The way is to make Sevilla a fixture in the Champions League. In the economic chapter, for the first time I present a deficit as president, 41.3 million euros. The few movements in the transfer markets were key. It is a specific deficit, the loss of income comes from an adverse context, not because of the decision-making of this council. One thing should be clear, the model continues to be that of selling to grow because this formula is what has made us a great in the League and in Europe. There is no one non-transferable here, but the price of our stars is what we decide and our pulse does not shake when we say no. Our financial health is not compromised. Our turnover is 170 million euros and our net worth is 56 million. When I say that we are ambitious and that we always want more, I mean it because we have a squad that is the fourth most valuable in the League. It’s not by chance. Dear shareholders, I ask you for peace of mind and trust in a council that has already demonstrated its capacity. Look if our economic situation will be good, since we are the second team with the highest salary limit in the League. The illusion remains intact and the objectives are ambitious. I cannot be prouder of the employees of this house. The investments are not going to stop neither in the stadium nor in the sports city. The path for a bigger Seville has already been laid out. If with a pandemic we have come out ahead, there is no other than to be optimistic. The roadmap is non-negotiable. We Sevillans know better than anyone that our success story in the 21st century cannot end here. Chapters of glory remain to be written. And we will write them. “

Next, José María Cruz, general director of the entity, went on to expose the club’s accounts, which are summarized in the 41.3 million euros of losses, although Cruz stressed that the club more than meets the ratios required by the League . It was time for Del Nido to take the floor to question Cruz’s information, mainly to criticize the council’s retribution despite the losses. “What is it because of your magnificent management?” He asked.

And the key moment arrived. It was time to vote the accounts and finally it was going to be known if Del Nido could vote with his shares or if they would continue to be represented by his son, vice president of the club. “The president and vice president have aligned their decision to vote in favor of the accounts,” Castro said. To which Del Nido responded indignantly: “I ask for the record that I am not allowed to vote.” The accounts were approved with 54% of the votes, while the management of the council received the endorsement of 52%, while Del Nido and his group insisted on asking the notary to contest the votes, without any success no matter how much he shouted that their right to vote will be respected.

The spirits continued to heat up, to the point that members of the club’s security had to ask Del Nido and his group for calm, who continued to scold the table. Meanwhile, the rest of the attendees applauded the approval of the accounts and the management of the council.

Once it became known that Del Nido could not vote, the point at which the former president and his group called for the removal of the current board in full was of little interest. Del Nido rejected his turn to speak, insisting that he was not allowed to vote, but making it clear that if he were allowed to, he could prevent any of the points from being approved and asking the rest of the shareholders to abstain in said vote. But Castro did not hold his tongue: “We must avoid what would be a transgression of the rights of shareholders. What José María del Nido Benavente and the Sevillistas Unidos 2020 group intend is to make it impossible to comply with a current and mandatory pact according to the Provincial Court of Seville “. The vote was won by the current board of directors with 77%, although the abstention was 20%.

And in this way, a Shareholders’ Meeting with more noise than nuts was headed to its conclusion and in which Castro was victorious. Del Nido, for his part, announced that he will continue with his intention to regain command. The first battle has fallen for the current directive, but the war is presumed more than long.