Majority support for management

The Ordinary General Assembly took place yesterday in the Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall and, once again, both the Annual Accounts and the Management of the previous 2017/2018 season and the Budget for the following financial year, in this case the 2018/19, were approved with wide support from the delegated members.

In particular, these two ballots, which corresponded to the first two items in the agenda, yielded the following favourable majorities:

– Annual Accounts and Management of the Board of Directors 2017/18

Yes: 484 (78.70%)
No: 95 (15.45%)
Blank: 10 (1.63%)
Null: 10 (1.63%)

– Budget for the financial year 2018/19

Yes: 481 (78.21%)
No: 92 (14.96%)
Blank: 13 (2.11%)
Null: 10 (1.63%)

“IZAN ETA EGIN” (To be and to do)

After the welcome greeting, Josu Urrutia addressed the assembly and gave a speech in which he reviewed the trajectory of the Board of Directors in charge of the Club during the last two legilatures. In the first place, he referred to sports perfomance and economic management, “those two issues which, due to their importance, in the near future will aso serve to examine and evaluate the following directives”. In both areas, he enumerated the objective data that allow to evaluate with a good mark both the sport performance and the economic management.

But the presidente did not want to remain in the results but in the questions prior to those results: “the motivations, the whys, the objectives”. Therefore, he underlined the importance of geaving meaning to the Club by word and example, through consistent behaviour, “that anyone can see the Athletic is on track, which what is done has a meaning, a reason to be. And he added that it is essential to “have cleared what we are, because conceptual clarity is the basis of everything. If this is what we are, this is what we do. Izan eta egin (To be and to do).

Under this principle, to be and to do, Josu Urrutia reviewed the most important decisions adopted by this Board over the last two legislatures. Among others, the positioning of the Club demanding the full payment of the clauses, the decesive bet for Lezama, the social orientation of the Foundation, the communication policy where the interests of the Club prevail or the presentation of audited accounts without exceptions.

Finally, looking to the future, the president said that “we are part of the society that advances in a sense contrary to the identity of Athletic” and underlined that the greatest challenge of the Athletic Club is to “preserve our essence and protect if from adversity”.

Economic provision

The accountant Alberto Uribe-Echevarria offered the pertinent explanations about the accounts and the budget, and explained in detail all the necessary clarifications to understand the decision of the Board of Directors to allocate 100% of the surplus 2017/18, just over 76 million euros, to provide a provision that reinforces and guarantees the economic stability of the Club.

The accountant of the Board of Directors explained that the accounting rules, on the one hand, require to record the extraordinary income from player departures in the year in which they occur; while, on the other hand, require that reinvestments in transfers of football players are accounted for as expenses of future years. The extraordinary provision is provided precisely in order to mitigate these effects on future budgets, and obeys “an exercise of responsibility, prudence and thinking of the Athletic”, as it will manage the Club freely.

Uribe-Echevarria remarked that, since the arrival of this Board of Directors in 2011, additional funds amounting to 199 million euros have been generated, of which only 51 million can be considered extraordinary, considering that, of the 221 million from the payment of clauses, 170 million have been allocated to strategic investments: Lezama, San Mames Barria, transfers of football players, new cover, etc. The other 148 million euros have been generated by ordinary operations.

Finally, Uribe-Echevarria reported that the surplus budgeted for the 2018/19 season if 60.1 million euros and confirmed that membership feels will be frozen one more season.