The sale of Sporting for 43 million to Orlegi closes today in Madrid

Javier Fernández, who has been at his home in Marbella in recent weeks, during which the entire process has been accelerated, will meet Alejandro Irarragorri in Madrid to formalize the sale of the entity.

José Fernández had entered Sporting as a shareholder in 1992, at the time of the club’s conversion into a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva. Shortly after, after buying the shareholding package of the City Council and individual shareholder titles, he took over the majority and assumed the presidency. His power increased until reaching the current 73%, managed by his son Javier -president of the institution- for a decade. Now, three months after the death of José Fernández, his heirs have made the decision to attend to the purchase offer of the Orlegi group, which will close today.

This Tuesday, June 28, was the date marked on the negotiation roadmap to close and make the change of ownership official. Once the “due diligence” was completed satisfactorily, having also received the go-ahead from the Higher Sports Council, and visiting Gijón last Friday, Alejandro Irarragorri -president of Orlegi- together with its general director Alfonso Villalva, the process of sale was already facing its final stretch.

Once the sale is made official today, Orlegi is expected to present his project for Sporting in Gijón soon, with the entire organization chart, his philosophy and the key points planned for the future of the club. Irarragorri will also take the opportunity to get to know El Molinón, Mareo and more aspects of the entity, after an express visit to Gijón in which he met with the mayor of the city, Ana González.

The new organization chart of Sporting, as revealed by LA NUEVA ESPAÑA, will be headed by Alejandro Irarragorri himself as president of the board of directors. Two more advisers will accompany him for the time being: Alfonso Villalva and Martin Hollaender, two of his trusted men in the group, in the sections of general management and finance. In addition, it is planned to strengthen the board with the appointment of another director, who would act as secretary.

The structure will also include an executive president, who will be the journalist and marketing specialist David Guerra, with experience in the American office of LaLiga. And it will have Gerardo García as sports general manager. In that structure will not be Javi Rico, sports director to date, which will not continue. It is not entirely clear that this figure can be covered as such, although a technical secretary could be signed, who would work under García, in a role that Fran Rico occupies today, with few options to continue in Gijón.

Javier Fernández, who assumed the presidency of Sporting in 2016, is leaving the club, as are the directors Javier Martínez and Fernando Losada. Ramón de Santiago, for his part, will continue temporarily as an external collaborator.

Sporting’s ownership change process concludes today, a month and a half before the start of next season, with Orlegi taking the reins of planning, after a season to forget in which relegation was brushed, with the intention of returning the illusion to the rojiblanca fans.