2023-04-26 04:10:00
At half past nine in the morning, Diego Baeza (Gijón, 1985) arrives at the Suárez driving a BMW vehicle. At first glance, one might think that there is an inaccessible barrier to approach him. Nothing to do with reality. When getting out of his car, the president of Avilés smiled from ear to ear. Close, cheerful and courteous in dealing with him, the man from Gijón is always willing to take pictures with the blue and white fans. After difficult years, he now has reason to smile. Avilés is second, their place in the play-off is practically assured and, off the pitch, great news is coming.
–Did you expect the team to perform like this at the beginning of the season?
-The truth is. We made a very good squad to achieve the goal we set ourselves in the short term, which is promotion. Knowing the quality of the players, I imagined that we could give this level.
Do you suffer a lot watching the matches?
-Very much. In the box I think it lasted seven minutes at the most.
–Astu, the sports director, ends his contract at the end of the season, what plans do you have for the future?
We are considering all the possibilities. I know he is comfortable at Avilés and we are very happy with his work. We have to see little by little. We still have to finish the season.
–Emilio Cañedo, the coach, is in the same situation.
-The coach has had a very good season. Let’s hope he meets the goal, from there we’ll talk. In these categories, everything is seen to be very up-to-date, you don’t think so much about the long term.
“Nobody moves me from here, my project is long-term, until I see everything finished it will not be complete”
– Is that objective that Cañedo has to meet is promotion?
–It is the objective that the club has and he too, for sure. He knows the quality that he has in the squad and I have no doubt that he also has it in mind.
Would not achieving promotion be considered a failure?
–It is not a failure, but it is a stick. The ideal would be to promote, but when you no longer get it with direct promotion, the play-offs are very complicated. You risk it to heads or tails and what happened last week against Ourense could happen. An expulsion or a penalty conditions you all year.
–This year the squad is practically entirely new. Seeing this good year, do you intend to give continuity to the project or is a new revolution coming?
–Everything will be defined depending on the category in which we are next season. If we were in the Second RFEF we would like to have many of the players. The problem is that, as happened to us last year when we tried to maintain a good base, the players have other ambitions and there are times when they want to leave. It is not only the club’s decision.
–On several occasions there have been more than 3,000 spectators at the Suárez Puerta. Every time Avilés turns more to his team.
-I am proud and satisfied. When I took this team we were literally four cats in the stands. They were familiar and little else. Seeing that the city is getting excited about its team and that there are more and more only makes me feel proud.
–In addition, more and more children are seen in the stands.
–It is what we are working on the most and what we place the most emphasis on. For us it is key that the new generations become Real Avilés and they are seeing a lot of shirts on the street.
Do you plan to continue with the policy of offers on tickets for members facing the play-off?
–Surely we will do some kind of action more. What we are looking for is that the member benefits from all these actions and can bring whoever they want. The important thing is that they have the power.
–How is the club’s debt with him right now? Aviles City Hall?
-Decreasing, as always. Since I arrived, I have gone from the 700,000 euros that I had in debt to now having less than 200,000 euros. It will be liquidated shortly. We are talking about it with the City Council, since we want to access all the subsidies, both municipal and federal.
How is the relationship with the City Council?
–Yesterday (on Monday) I had a meeting with them and the tone was very positive. It seems that everything is going well.
–In 2024 the agreement for the use of the field must be renewed. What do you plan to do?
–That is what I am talking about right now with the City Council. Although the agreement ends in March of next year, we have already begun to negotiate, so as not to leave it until the last minute. The City Council will have to draw up the specifications and we will go for that new concession.
“The idea we have is to bring the field closer to the fans, we are working on it, it is a big project and we have to tweak things”
–You have spoken several times about using the ground floor of the stadium to make a profit from it. Will you put it on the table when renewing the agreement?
-One of the conditions in the negotiation is that. I am putting on the table the condition that, in order to be granted this new concession, I can reform the entire stadium.
–Who would pay for this reform of which you speak?
-The club.
–And where do you get that money for the reform?
-When talking about such a large investment, there are own resources and private capital, that would not be a problem.
Do you have anyone interested in using basses?
–Finding interested parties for the low would be the second step. First we must have the concession, carry out the reform, and then, at the end, see who can settle within those commercial areas.
– What has the City Council transmitted to you regarding the reform?
They liked the idea. We are talking about the stadium being an infrastructure in total decay, outdated and that does not accompany the environment. What we expect is a comprehensive reform, a complex of the 21st century. That would imply a revitalization and revaluation of the area that he calculated that it will be between 5% and 9%.
What will happen to the El Quirinal Neighborhood Association and the Police Station?
–It is what we have yet to see, it is part of the negotiations.
–How large a capacity would you like the stadium to be?
What I have projected is between nine and ten thousand seats. You have to be aware of the potential that the club has. For this, the Federation, when you get to professional football, has an “ideal ratio”, which estimates that the field would have to house 10% of the population of the area. In the Aviles region we are over 120,000 people, so the idea is to meet that ratio.
– Do you consider lowering the stands so that the fans are closer to the field?
–The idea we have is to bring the field closer to the fan. We are working on it, it is a very big project and we need to go tweaking things. We want the fan to be closer to the player.
– Facing the play-off, do you plan to place additional stands in the funds that are now empty?
-Hopefully. First you have to certify the classification and then we will think about what to do. I imagine that, getting into the play-offs, the stadium is going to fill up. We will try to give more support.
–The “fan zone” is being a success. Do you have in mind to continue with the idea for the remainder of the season?
-Completely. The “fan zone” has become part of the match preview and we are going to continue with it.
And what about the big screen? Especially for away games.
“If we could do it, yes. It all depends on the television signal. In the duel against Burgos B we shared the same platform as the rival, so there were no problems, but that may not always be the case.
–How is the situation of the Ciudad Deportiva del Real Avilés in Corvera?
–The Sports City is a fact. It is the most tangible thing that the club has today. We have started all the pertinent procedures for land use change, with the Corvera City Council in conjunction with our technicians and it is already registered in the BOPA since last Thursday. Now it is a job for the technicians with the technicians of the Principality. They are longer terms, but we expect that, in less than a year, or at most one year, the license will already be in place.
– How long will it take from the license to the start of the works?
It will be a very short period of time. By having such a long wait, we can do the pre-execution work. It will be very useful for us so that, when the license is in place, it will be operational and the next day it will start working.
“It is a pride to see more than 3,000 people at the Suárez Puerta, when I joined the club we were four cats in the stands”
– Is there fear that a possible change of government will cause the plans to be reversed?
-No. This goes above any party. The Mayor of Corvera has a total commitment to the project and, if there were a change of government, he could not miss this opportunity that is already operational.
–Some rumors suggest that they plan to sell the club if it manages to promote to First RFEF. That’s right?
-Nobody moves me from here. My project is long term, until I see everything finished it will not be complete. There is no one to lead this project other than me.
– How long will the works you have planned take?
–Between licenses and execution, the Sports City will take between three and three and a half years. We still don’t know the stadium because we continue with the negotiations.
–Have you ever regretted buying the club?
-Many times. When the sports results don’t happen, when there are problems due to the previous management that I inherited… Here for a long time there has been a non-stop of judicial summonses, of inspections… It has absorbed a lot of time and a lot of energy.
–What madness would you do if Avilés ends up ascending?
-Whatever. Shave my head, but not zero (jokes).
#Diego #Baeza #president #Real #Avilés #Sports #City #tangible #Real #Avilés