The opening of the new premises of the Federation of Sports Clubs in the Palacio de los Deportes joined yesterday at noon the mayoress Inés Rey and the president of Deportivo Antonio Couceiro in a public act after the disagreement between the club from A Coruña and the Local government for the use and exploitation of the Riazor stadium.
The councilor and the president of the blue and white club, owned by Abanca, were two of the protagonists of an inauguration in which they had time to chat as a first gesture towards a possible understanding and also to leave an ephemeral dedication on one of the blackboards of the headquarters on such an important day. “With all my love” wrote the mayoress, while the president wished it to be “a great day” for sportsmanship in the hours before the duel against Castilla at the Herculean Coliseum.
They were not the only two institutional representatives in a debut in which there was a crowded presence of Dépor supporters clubs. Councilors Jesús Celemín and Juan Ignacio Borrego and Deportivo councilors David Villasuso and Miguel Juane, as well as former president Augusto César Lendoiro, were some of the attendees.
It is the second time that Antonio Couceiro and Inés Rey meet in a public act after the exchange of statements on Friday, March 4. The first was that same day at the inauguration of the new Repsol jetty in the outer port of Langosteira, attended by the mayor and president of the Chamber of Commerce.
That morning Dépor, through the mouth of its president, had expressed its discontent with the City Council’s intention to receive financial compensation for the use and exploitation of Riazor, in this case related to naming (charge for the commercial use of the name). Rey assured several times that the team was not going to be charged for the use, but he did admit that the municipal coffers should receive a counterpart for that other concept in dispute. The exchange came within the framework of the negotiations for a new agreement that ends in 2025 and that, in reality, now has some legal uncertainty as the clause that Dépor cannot have a majority shareholder has been breached. A few days ago, the mayoress opted to reduce the tension and “redirect” the situation. The opening of the Palace premises gave rise to the meeting of the two visible heads of the negotiation.
