The Lakua Sports Club changes faces. As EL CORREO has learned, the board of directors of the Vitoria team has presented their resignation with … immediate effect. The board chaired by Mohamed Akbache has given in to pressure from a good part of the players’ families, who had been asking for their departure through different channels for weeks. The Provincial Council of Álava and the Federation had also taken part in a conflict that finally aims to be resolved.
To begin with, the president of an entity that has around 800 boys and girls claims to have reached an agreement with an external agent who will be in charge of refloating the Lakua, with a debt of close to 100,000 euros. “We sincerely wish all the luck in the world to the new manager, a group that has experience in managing teams and knowledge of sports operations, and to whom we wish success, serenity and stability in this new stage,” he highlights.
“Lakua needs order, management and tranquility, and we hope that this stage can be built from there,” recommends the outgoing director.
And everything indicates that there is already a replacement for Akbache. This will be Sergio Lasarte. He is a man from Vitoria who is part of the board of the Ipar-Arriaga club, another football society in the same neighborhood of Vitoria, where he serves as a member. This detail has been capital.
This Friday afternoon a very complex agreement was closed and, sources consulted highlight, it affects a third club. Lasarte is the visible face of a group that came out of Ipar-Arriaga and that, apart from Lakua, will probably take charge of Hurricane Lakua. This sports entity would also be mired in serious organizational problems. Of course, each one will maintain their autonomy. At least this season.
“All alone”
While in his final departure, Akbache and his collaborators defend their baton, highly questioned by a sector of the Lakua Sports Club families. He even shoots each of the parties that have forced his exit. “It is essential to remember a fact that many seem to have forgotten with interest: when the Lakua Sports Club was about to disappear, it was completely alone,” he says.
“We have left in writing that the payment of debts that directly affect the club appears as a priority,” he points out.
The former president refers to the month of March, when they took over the reins of this club agreed with Athletic Bilbao. Already then, always according to Akbache, the company was carrying various debts that began to generate an economic hole that, now, amounts to “around 100,000 euros.”
“At that critical moment – when the club lacked resources, accumulated debts and there was a real risk that the boys and girls would be left without a team, without coaches and without competition – no institution appeared, there were no urgent meetings, there were no communications, there was no public concern, much less effective support,” he criticizes. “The club could disappear and it simply didn’t matter,” Akbache continues.
The outgoing president
The club’s debt amounts to “close to 100,000 euros”, the majority from the previous stage
«Where was the Provincial Council then? Where was the supposed concern for the minors, for the sporting project or for the stability of the club? “It didn’t exist,” he says. Mohamed Akbache, a former player of the club, became the new president after the departure of Ali Fekkak. «I arrived with the sole hope of contributing, helping and preventing its disappearance. And it should be said clearly, even if it is uncomfortable: Lakua continues to exist today because someone decided not to look the other way when others did.
Between darts, he details his actions for the supposed survival of the entity. «Payrolls for the months of March, April and May were paid, in an extreme situation, with hardly any resources and advancing their own money. Urgent debts with bus companies and the federation were settled, allowing the teams to register and the boys and girls to continue competing. And a structure that was already falling was sustained, without applause, without real support and under constant pressure.
“Lack of loyalty”
Akbache is disappointed with all those who have called for his resignation. “It is striking that now, when the club is still alive, institutional voices do appear, there are parallel meetings, two sides play, messages of support are sent privately and, at the same time, different speeches transmitted from behind to families and third parties.” The board censures “that double game”, “those double faces, with defamations, constant blows and lack of loyalty”, as the reason for their goodbye. “They have generated a climate that makes it unfeasible to continue with this project under current conditions.”
To conclude, the members of the outgoing board of directors claim to leave “with a clear conscience, knowing that when the club was on the brink of the abyss, we were there, we stood up and did what we had to do to keep Lakua alive.” In defense of his management, he feels the passage of time in his favor. “As always, he will put everything in its place,” they consider.
