Alex Aranzabal: “It’s not good that Javier Tebas has no opponent”

Alex Aranzabal He was the last man to face Javier Tebas in the race for the presidency of LaLiga. Now that the president has resigned to push for elections, in what many see as a strategy to ensure his continuation for another four years, the former president of Eibar from 2009 to 2016 – the youngest in professional football in Spain – is speaking about in the need for more alternatives to oxygenate Spanish football.

Doctor in Economics and Business Management, university professor and author of the books ‘El Modelo Eibar’ and ‘Living twice’, Aranzabal examines the major challenges that Spanish football must address during his visit to Mundo Deportivo.

–How do you remember that electoral race before Thebes?

I lived that time with great intensity. In 2016, I left Eibar, I took over the team in Second B and we promoted it to the First Division. We lived in a fairy tale in a city with 27 thousand inhabitants and, when I left the club, I was asked by some very important football clubs in Spain that an alternative to Tebas was needed.

Do you still think that alternatives to Tebas are needed?

We must acknowledge Tebas’ many merits but it is always good to have alternatives. It’s not good that he has no opponents. We cannot go to an electoral process where he will be the only candidate and it is an election by acclamation, like the Bulgarian one. From the alternatives is the confrontation of ideas, that each candidate gives the best of themselves, when a person is guaranteed a position for life, that is not good.

Spanish football has gone through a turbulent time with the ‘Rubiales case’. How do you review the changes made?

It is clear that times have changed and today’s society is different than it was a few years ago and now there should be true gender equality and full respect for women and all people. At first, the truth is, I thought Rubiales would not fall.

For what reason?

Because we are used to the fact that the Federation is an impregnable castle, neither the hand of politics nor other forces can remove that. I thought it was a fight and a downpour that would end at any moment. But it didn’t light up.

Talk about an impregnable castle, does the RFEF need a breath of fresh air?

Fresh air and transparency in all institutions is good. And in the case of Tebas, I have no intention at this moment in my life to oppose it or run for elections in LaLiga, but it must create valid and powerful alternatives and make the institutions as democratic as possible. In 2016, the public supported me, the coaches and the players, but Tebas had the votes of most clubs, not the biggest but the majority. Once you get used to winning by landslides, the game ends up being very boring.

What do you think of the heyday of women’s football?

This is incredible and it will only bring benefits to this society.

The 2023 World Cup is on our horizon, what does this mean for Spanish football?

I think more than the 1982 World Cup, which caught us still very immature. Now we are a world power, we have won titles and it will be an unprecedented celebration of football.

You have implemented the ‘Eibar Model’, which is an example to follow

Yes, they even came from IESE to study our case and their students were made to work on our model as an example of business management. We became the most profitable club in Europe. We didn’t even have the money to pay for the soccer buses locally, the parents had to drive to the clubs, and we started having shareholders in 69 countries. This is not the only sports miracle. We had a budget of 400 thousand euros and we reached 30 million.

Names are now appearing for possible candidacy for the RFEF presidency: Carlos Herrero, Mateu Lahoz, Salvador Gomar… has it crossed your mind to take a chance on this electoral process?

There is still no date for the election and there is time to think about that. All in due time.