The president of Athletic Club, Jon Uriarte, gave a press conference in which, rather than taking stock of the season, he seemed to have confused the press lectern with an improvised judicial rostrum. His target: FC Barcelona.
His accusation: from the payments to Negreira to the economic levers and the signings. The evidence? Conspicuous by its absence. The irony? It comes from a club with its own history of controversies.
It is legitimate for a president to defend his fans, but using suspicion as an alibi to justify booing at San Mamés is another matter. And even more so when one intends to speak of "sports ethics" from a club that keeps some skeletons in its closet: from the accusation of fixing the Athletic-Levante match in 2007, to a case of recognized doping and a tribute that bordered on the incendiary.
Accusations without conviction: the Negreira case and the red-and-white obsession
Uriarte stated that in Bilbao there is "tiredness" due to the "proven payments" to José María Enríquez Negreira, forgetting that FC Barcelona has not been convicted by any court. The "proven" thing is, for now, more an opinion than a sentence.
It is understandable that justice takes time and media noise wears you down. But it is curious that a president who demands "clarity" does not wait for the judicial resolution before waving the accusing finger. And it is even more curious that a club whose salvation in 2007 still smells of a dressing room pact has the audacity to put on the robe.
Accusations of fixing, doping and dubious tributes: the Athletic's newspaper archive
On June 17, 2007, Athletic needed to beat Levante to avoid relegation. They won 2-0. Days later, a recording was leaked where the captain of Levante, Iñaki Descarga, admitted that his team let themselves be defeated: "I should have told the whole squad, but if I do, it won't happen." The president of Levante confirmed that the money for the bonus was "in a safe." And all this, with Ángel María Villar —former Athletic player— informed, according to the same recording. Absolute silence from Ibaigane. Selective ethics.
In 2002, Carlos Gurpegui tested positive for nandrolone. The club defended the player, as is logical, but accused the laboratories, the climate, dehydration... everything but the fact. Two years of sanction later, there was the episode. And then there is the 2024 tribute to Martín Zabaleta, a mountaineer with symbolic links to ETA, which provoked the rejection of COVITE and other victims' associations. The club distanced itself, yes, but did not apologize. Another exercise in ethics that borders on the sporting with the political.
The levers and the double standard with signings
Uriarte also criticized Barça's financial levers and the registration of players endorsed by the CSD. Nothing new. But it is interesting how it is omitted that Real Madrid also used levers (such as the sale of 30% of television rights in 2006) without so much scandal.
And then there are the signings. Uriarte was annoyed by the departure of Íñigo Martínez, who left for free —like hundreds of players every year— and by the rumors about Nico Williams. But doesn't Athletic sign players? Or does it only bother when Barça does?
Let's remember that in the same window in which it lost Íñigo, Athletic signed Gorka Guruzeta, Álex Berenguer, and has sounded out players outside the Basque Country whenever the seams of its philosophy have allowed it. The problem, it seems, is that the signings are not unilateral.
Rivalry does not justify hypocrisy
In his statement, Uriarte lamented that "the press puts our players in the shirts of rivals." But it was precisely his intervention that fueled the victimistic narrative and the contempt towards FC Barcelona. A club with whom Athletic has shared values for decades, and that today, according to the president himself, is at the "antipodes."
Rivalry is part of football. Debate too. What is not admissible is cynicism: pointing out the speck in someone else's eye when one has lived with one's own structural beams. And all while applauding a fan base that insults the Liga champion during a guard of honor.
Aupa Athletic