Team manager. As a delegate, Nuria Martínez is in charge of making sure all of the Spanish team’s machines are working
If you are looking for a football comparison, you could say that Nuria Martínez Navas is the Busquets of the Spanish Federation. A spindle through which all the balls pass. She receives them and distributes them diligently and with a smile, analyzing the most suitable overtaking lanes. His to-do list is miles long and gets even bigger when a tournament like a World Cup comes up. It is the liaison between the Spanish Federation (RFEF) and FIFA and is also responsible for managing all the team’s needs, both in terms of sports and logistics. It takes care of the accreditations, the transfers, that the training camps meet the minimum requirements…
He has traveled to Qatar once a month for the past year to set up the entire operation that was going to find the selection. Nine previous trips that also included working days with the International Federation and the rest of the team managers of the 32 classified. He visited locations and training camps until he found the option that best suited Spain’s needs, in this case Qatar University. From then on, he also oversaw the assembly and preparation of the complex that now houses Luis Enrique’s team.
In addition, he is responsible for the player’s files, reporting discards, uploading the lineups to the official application… a succession of chores that force him to live glued to an ‘excel’ and a calendar full of deletions and delivery dates . “You have to be very in control, but luckily I have a photographic memory and I’m pretty organised,” she says.
Nuria joined the Federation in June 2021, just before the start of the Euro Cup. In that tournament he learned from the inside out all the functions he was going to take on, and in October he already made his debut as a team manager, which was formerly known as a delegate. “Now everything is evolved and automated,” he says.
Its trajectory reflects its off-road nature. It is, as she says herself, ‘a restless ass’. He studied Journalism and a Masters in International Conflicts because he wanted to be a war correspondent, although his other passion eventually won that heartbeat. “I really like sports, I’ve been doing it all my life,” he explains as he reflects on his time in the Estudiantes youth academy. Jumped from editor in the ‘Diario AS’ to the Spanish basketball federation as director of the president’s office. There he experienced his first World Cup with an unbeatable result, as Spain became champion in Saitama. That’s why I’m now dreaming of a double that could be unprecedented.
Luis Rubiales met her at the AFE, where she was the women’s football coordinator. But before the RFEF president recruited her, she still had time to go through Atlético de Madrid, where she was Director of Institutional Relations.
A lover of reading and movies, the best surprise her people can give her is to take her on a culinary experience. He likes music in general, especially Pearl Jam. And in his suitcase to Doha there is no shortage of the iPad, with which he watches series and films, and lots of sportswear, but also streetwear. “I don’t want to see myself in a tracksuit all day. I don’t know if I’ll use it, but even if I do, I’ll put on my dress and heels in my room,” she confesses.
He is aware of the interest his image arouses whenever one focuses on the Spanish bank. “In the networks, I am the blonde who appears next to Luis Enrique,” he says with a laugh. “I enjoy my work every day,” he concludes. “I’m a positive and happy person and there isn’t a single day where I don’t laugh at anything,” he describes himself.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
