“We are very open to Ryder Cup 2031 but first we need to have budgets”

Berni Álvarez, Conseller d’Esports of the Generalitat of Catalonianewly created Department at Government of Salvador Illawas very clear this Monday to MD, at presentation event at the Foment del Treball of the PlaySpain.Golf project, regarding the organization of Ryder Cup in 2031 in the province of Girona. “We are very open to Ryder but first we have to have budgets,” the Minister told this newspaper.

The Generalitat is the entity that remains to sign the contract to that Camiral Golf, in Caldes de Malavella (Girona)host in seven years the trial that pits the US against the European Union. Álvarez assured MD that “Ryder is on the table, it’s a viable option, but there are a lot of things to finish with all the parties involved.”

“We, upon arriving at the Ministry, found the options for the 2031 Ryder Cup to be held in Catalonia and now we are collecting all the information from the Higher Sports Council, the Catalan Golf Federation and the people of Girona, which if which is the proposed location. With the launch of the Conselleria d’Esports we want many things to happen around the sport but not everything has to be endogamous, that it happens for some people or for an economic assessment but with impact on society and also on the level of sustainability; and for these two aspects we have to work to bet on good sports events,” added the Minister.

“The first thing to do is listen, sit with them. We have met with the Council, with the Federation… but at the Ministry level like this there is no budget and that’s what I’m saying given the major sports events is always held from the Presidency, and the . I did not join the sports. Now we want to be at the table. We value the events that are on the table and taking them into account and the decision from a sporting point of view has to really count. And also, always make decisions by consensus among the participants.”

The deadline is the end of 2024. The financial amount is 40 million to be distributed over seven years. “Between now and January we must have all the information on the table to make a consensus decision. It is true that a decision must be made in the coming months but it will not be three days either,” said Álvarez.

“If I finally want to be in a big event, I need information. Before we were not in the decision-making process. And like I go to other places, my visit to Camiral Golf is to gather as much information as possible. t can. Everything surrounding an event of this kind and from there sit and talk. We are in the Council and this Thursday we have a meeting with Minister Pilar Alegría to find out all the details.” This meeting seems to be important for Ryder’s future.

“One of the issues that is on the table is the budget of the Generalitat. As the Conselleria d’Esports we do not have a budget because the Conselleria does not exist yet. We live, in quotes, from what the Consell Català de l’Esport, from to the autonomous organizations, INEFC, Circuit de Catalunya… We have made a budget proposal that we are discussing internally and then these budgets have to be approved. The road is not easy we have to do things on a sports level, we are predisposed, ideal but with some budgets,” concluded the Minister.

In this sense, Mundo Deportivo can be sure that the only thing missing is the signature of the Generalitat. That they are settling inwardly, without making a sound. The negotiation is long and there are many obstacles, but it is on a very good path and at the end of the year there will certainly be an official confirmation of the celebration of the 2031 Ryder Cup at Camiral Golf, in Caldes de Malavella (Girona) . “We used to have to go on roads with many curves and now we drive on big highways,” he told MD Ramón Nogué, President of FCGolf. For a great connoisseur there are no more words.