No one yet knows exactly the depth of the economic hole that absorbs the Lakua Sports Club. The Vitoria City Council admitted this Tuesday that this … The team, acquired from Athletic and with 800 kids in its structure, has only owed 1,375 euros to the municipal coffers since October. But it is nothing more than the tip of the iceberg of an extensive economic crack that extends more than a year in time and that affects suppliers, trainers, store owners, companies… Those affected, on condition of anonymity, tell EL CORREO the obstacles they continue to face today in trying to collect the money. Some, tired of waiting, have taken legal action. Their testimonies allow us to obtain a photograph of the magnitude of the crisis that engulfs Lakua and keeps families in suspense.
The most revealing image occurred in training on Monday. Some school teams did not have a coach, as this newspaper confirmed. Faced with the accumulation of months of non-payments (the debt in some cases exceeds a thousand euros) they have thrown in the towel. Others continue for the simple fact of not leaving the children helpless. “In September he promised us that he would pay us in three months and that was not the case.” The conflict is deeper. At the beginning of the season, the Board of Directors chaired by Mohameh Akbache asked the coaches to change their legal status and work as collaborators. “He did not want to register us with Social Security,” reveal those affected, who do not know how to now demonstrate their connection with the entity.
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Without paying the rent of the facilities
Without coaches, the viability of this club is up in the air, with another hot spot in the facilities to utilize. In this regard, the Councilor for Sports, Ana López de Uralde, announced yesterday that, although the club owes debts for using the municipal fields, it will not “close or prohibit training or competitions.” Likewise, he ruled out that any aid had been given to them. “We have reviewed the last five years and looked at whether at any time this club has applied for subsidies from this City Council.” Meanwhile, this newspaper has been able to confirm that on December 15, Lakua was prohibited from using the Sansomendi institute’s sports center for accumulating a year of non-payments (1,000 euros in total).
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Equipment retained due to debts
They are the last episodes of a crack that deepened in the summer. The club bought new kits, but not all of them arrived. There are suppliers who decided to withhold orders when they saw that they did not collect the full amount. They were not the only companies that have offered services to Lakua and have been left without receiving income. “I told you that in ten days I would pay, that I would soon collect the money from Athletic… But in the end I never paid.” In fact, one firm has decided to take legal action to find a solution.
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Lawsuit for non-payment of the headquarters
It is not the only demand that Lakua faces. The office that the Lakua Sports Club uses as its headquarters has been up for sale since 2024. However, the operation is blocked. The ownership, unrelated to the club, denounces months of non-payments and has decided to put the case in the hands of its lawyers, considering it a “squatter.”
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How did it get to this point?
The president of the club, Mohamed Akbache, who did not want to speak to this newspaper, in a tense meeting with the families blamed the crisis that is suffocating the club on non-payments by the parents. “Of the 684 families in the club, 420 owe one or two fees.” The parents, who demanded an economic report to prove it and which they have not yet received, blame this drift on “bad management.” A disagreement that was evident with the police presence after the meeting and that shows the abysmal discrepancies.
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The dubious transfer of powers
It is the outcome of a relationship that has been murky since its origin. Mohamed Akbache became president of the club in February. «He said he came representing a group with experience in business management. And he promised us that he was going to do an internal audit to find out the financial situation of the club. However, he never presented the results, nor did he let anyone access to see the accounts, it was just that there was a lot of debt,” say internal sources at the club. An anomaly that added to the strange transfer of powers. «There were no elections. “Overnight, Ali Fekkak (previous president) resigned and Akbache took office,” they recall.
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Advance collection of fees
The first measure he adopted was to advance the payment of the fees in an attempt to try to clean up the accounts. In this club there are 684 families (some have more than one child registered), which pay a different amount depending on the category. In school sports the tuition is 400 euros, while for each federated soccer player they pay 450. In parallel, it expanded the number of places in some teams and created a new squad in juniors (18 players). That was not the only expense that the parents suddenly faced.
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Cash payments and Bizums
The purchase of a new uniform was imposed by the Board. «Official tracksuit mandatory. So far the club has not applied sanctions for this reason. (…) It is important to maintain a unified image and the discipline of the club,” argued the president via WhatsApp. For each player they paid 65 euros. «It was a mess. Some paid in cash. Others through bizums to different telephone numbers…», say the families, who try to collect supporting documents to present as evidence. Because the Provincial Council told this newspaper that it will audit the club’s accounts to clarify this deep economic crisis with several companies and individuals affected.
