“We’ve almost done everything with the City Council” | Relief

Given the tensions that exist between the candidate countries over the possible venues for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, It turns out that now that they are clear and official, there is one who seems not to be excited at all. At least, the decisive part of him. And it seems that this is again for the negligence of the Spanish Federation’s leadership when it comes to managing the flow of information between city councils, headquarters and candidates.

Near And Coruna, from Riazor, from Deportivo. One of those that always made it clear that it would be part of the 11 chosen ones.. It is true that the club signed a project agreement in 2022 and, logically, wants the 2030 World Cup to be held in their stadium. And why are they protesting now? Well, because they were excluded from almost the entire process that the RFEF agreed with the city council, assuming that everything would be fine for the club.

To understand this contradiction, it is necessary to understand two key things and delve into how the Spanish part of the 2030 bid worked. Riazor is the Depora stadium… but only in name. The property is municipal. That is: This is from the city council. The club, which recently moved up to second place, received a concession and an agreement to operate it for 25 years..

On the other hand, within the RFEF the candidate committee consists of three people: Maria Tato, Fernando Sanz and Jorge Mowinkel. The first concerned the headquarters of La Coruña, namely: Maria Tato. One of the members of the entire candidacy (including Morocco and Portugal) who was subjected to the most criticism in the process. Responsible, among other things, for the terrible image that the RFEF left when, on the day of the FIFA exam for representatives, they had to interrupt the day because their Wi-Fi did not work.

“The thing is that he will coordinate everything with the city council, and I won’t be surprised if They wouldn’t even bother to call the club.– sources familiar with the process explain to Relevo. Earlier this year, for other reasons, Depor was at the RFEF for an informal talk, in which Tato was also present, although the topic of the venue for the World Cup was not the subject of discussion. about this meeting, and they passed it by only indirectly.

The relationship between Depor and the council is not very good, that’s a fact. However, there was a preliminary agreement and intention to hold the World Cup, which was signed in 2022. The club has heard almost nothing about Maria Tato or anyone from RFEF. There is a whole project to remake Riazor… created by the city council without the slightest consensus.

This agreement, among other things, provides for a financing plan in which 40% of the costs would be borne by Kunta, 20% by the provincial council, 10% by the city council and 30% by an unspecified private entity… but which everyone assumed would be Abanca.owner of Deportivo de la Coruña. So, because yes. Without much dialogue.

The stadium is municipal, okay, but using the example of a “broad brush”: it’s like if you rented a house for 25 years, and the owner, without telling you anything, changes your living room or cleans out the bathroom… In fact, in this type withagreements between clubs and cities, it is normal that in order to carry out structural work it is necessary to change this very agreement. So, not informing or coordinating in any way the operations planned for the World Cup… This is what caused the unrest. Especially when the project seems graze Events led to the powerful Abanca eventually providing some of the needed money.

A hasty and political call

Last week, things accelerated and RFEF published the sites they were going to include in their bid book. Coruña, of course, as always, was among the 11 chosen. Depor, however, issued a statement expressing regret at the way things were decided. The city is in the grip of a difficult waste collection strike and its mayor, Inés Rey I thought it was a good idea to call the media and take pictures of the city where the World Cup is taking place. Divert attention from other problems which ultimately became the cause, for example, of fires in various parts of the city.

Less than 24 hours later, he called Deportivo (who was not present) and other authorities, all of whom were more puzzled by the way things had been reported. They should have found out about the project right away.to the glory of the mayor and her city council, while a few meters away protests about the situation in the city were going in other directions.

And what will happen? Well, all parties seem to agree that, despite the forms and the terrible way in which the RFEF has carried out the coordination between institutions, they will find an agreement. Yesterday he Deportivo wrote a letter to the city council asking them to try to bring their positions closer together. They have plenty of time to do this, and RFEF usually ensures that information is shared between institutions, as they share the common goal of putting forward a candidacy. Not that there is much more to do than appear in photographs.