As of last Wednesday, Barcelona Sporting Club has a new board of directors that will guide the destiny of the most popular football institution in the country. The president who will lead this four-year mission is Antonio Alvarez Henríquez, brother of the current mayor of Guayaquil, Aquiles Alvarez. Both with great origins in the history of Astillero Idol, thanks to the successful influence of his grandfather Aquiles Alvarez Lértor, he was the president who won the title in 1971, the year of the first double championship.

It must be remembered that the recent election process was marked by judicial incidents with appeals by two candidates, who tried to disqualify their rival or restore their candidate status through precautionary measures and protective actions. Rafael Verduga was forced to use all options, which were rejected by the respective judges, preventing him from competing in the fight.

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Heartbroken and frustrated by what happened, Verduga charged: He said the election process was politicized and that a manipulated electoral court prevented him from participating. According to Verduga, there were political forces behind this that could force the state attorney to rule on the football club’s elections.

It is completely inconceivable, in the case of a respectable institution, that the Electoral Court of Barcelona avoided deciding on the law, which is its duty, and shifted the responsibility to the then Minister of Sports, Sebastián Palacios, to rule on the obstacles to re-election. election (Carlos Alfaro Moreno) and the alleged ambiguity of the law and its regulations. However, to everyone’s surprise, the minister did not want to get involved and involved the attorney general. He asked the obvious: is it appropriate to apply the principle of the hierarchy of norms and that the mandate established by the Law on Sports prevails over the provisions of that law?

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Faced with such brazen advice, the State Prosecutor’s Office, like the first year of law studies, decided to recommend to all organizations that did not have the courage to decide that “it is important to keep in mind that in the case of a contradiction between a lower norm and a higher one, higher regulations must be applied. ” In short, this entire convoluted election process crushed any intention or aspiration of Rafael Verduga to become a candidate.

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This allowed Antonio Alvarez a free hand to be declared president without a voting process, as the only candidate. This entire election process ended with Alvarez’s pitiful sentence upon assuming the presidency: “How sad it is to start like this, that the president of the electoral court cannot be here and present his credentials.” Due to this notable absence, former club president Octavio Hernández was the one who had to deliver them.

Meanwhile, Alfaro Moreno was completing a cycle that was slowly running out. Of course, he will forever be remembered for achieving a sixteenth national star in his tenure. Also due to bearing the consequences of the pandemic and, according to his version, achieving an important reduction in the club’s liabilities of 7 million dollars, and in addition to resisting the internal crisis, with the defection of several members of the board of directors.

But from the intangible, he has kept alive that unique passion that Barcelona fans represent. For other critics, Alfaro Moreno’s mission was incomplete as he did not win the international cup, which is the dream of yellow fans and also a growing noise, given the legitimate pretensions of the Quito team Independiente del Valle and the League of Quito, who proudly display these valuable trophies in their showcases.

And as if they were training, both Alfonso Harb, upon entering the transfer of command event, and Antonio Alvarez in their respective speeches mentioned how important it is to fight for Barcelona to win the Conmebol Cups. The offer was made and the bar set high by its own will and the demands of history. It will serve to evaluate or measure the success or failure of Antonio Alvarez.

The task of the new management is enormous in terms of organization, administration, finance and football. For this reason, they know that they must double their efforts in financing the team, supported by intelligent management that allows the installation of important resources, but not only to cover current costs, but to attack and liquefy this huge liability that is a serious obstacle to strengthening the team.football.

They cannot be abstracted with symbolic excuses from approaching the trend that has allowed many clubs in the world to surpass their finances, such as strategic alliances with investments that inject important resources or sports commercial companies. It’s time to think: this kind of simplistic government used until now has only served to fuel this exhibitionism of power, thanks to the popularity of the club, without concern for stability or economic profitability. Not wanting to understand that this is one of the key problems of the crisis of many clubs in our football means turning a blind eye or ignoring the real solutions.

When Alvarez promises economic prudence, intelligence for the financing of the club, he must be aware that this forces him to have a work plan that includes an administrative and financial strategy very different from the one Barcelona are used to. He also promised to be cool and calculating. Always a dreamer, but responsible and down to earth.

Mauricio Macri, the successful former president of Boca Juniors, admitted that part of his success is dressing up as a die-hard fan on Sundays, as he had to be the leader of the football club on other days. Antonio Alvarez noted that he will keep his soul as a fan and that he will wear the suit of the president of the club and that he will defend it proudly and honorably.

The time for speeches is over, it’s time to start filling the offers. He enjoys a privileged background, inherited from his grandfather Aquiles Alvarez Lértor’s brilliant presidency in Barcelona, ​​which was successful in complicated times, when leaders had to wield social, political and, above all, economic power. They became patrons willing to risk even their family property to sort out the club’s finances.

Aquiles Alvarez Lértora was the one who in 1971, as president of Barcelona, ​​won the national crown which represented the second double Idol championship in its history. Journalist Mario Valdez Zevallos described it this way: “It was a part of history that was hidden, partly because of modesty, partly because of the proverbial simplicity of the leader who never liked to promote himself at the expense of the club, never asked for microphones or photographers. “His love for Shipyard Idol made him an unforgettable and successful president.”

That’s your highest bar, Antonio Alvarez. Now try to reach him, the opportunity is in your hands. Start creating your story. (OR)