Letter to FC Barcelona

Once we confirmed the arrangements that, behind Athletic Club’s back, FC Barcelona carried out with two of our base football players, our organization which understands this to be an intolerable interference by the Catalan club in the red-and-white reserve of players, can only describe what happened as a hostile act of unusual severity on the part of FC Barcelona.

For that reason that the sports director of Athletic Club, Andoni Zubizarreta, has sent his homonym in this club the following letter:

Bilbao, 4 June 2004

Dear Aitor, I would hereby like to communicate how deeply upset our club is over the intolerable interference by FC Barcelona in the lower categories of Athletic Club; a meddling that finally ended with the ‘draft’ of two of our cadet players by your club. This fact, in itself unpleasant, receives more significance if we consider the particular sports philosophy of Athletic Club, based exclusively on the work carried out with the young players of our geographic surroundings, Euskal Herria.

To us, your behaviour is absolutely disrespectful, especially when our two clubs have maintained, until now, excellent relations that without a doubt are going to be seen affected by such a regrettable episode. This is why I must lament the form and content that an organization such FC Barcelona has used in this affair; a form and content that on this occasion do not seem to correspond with the prestige of a centennial institution. With nothing further to inform, please receive a greeting.

Andoni Zubizarreta – Athletic Club Sports Director.