Amaia Gorostiza: The “Eibar model” is honesty, discretion, effort and a job well done

The new President of SD Eibar, Amaia Gorostiza, today stated at a press conference that the Board of Directors that she will be presiding over will retain the hallmarks of the “Eibar model”, which she identified as being synonymous with “honesty, discretion, effort and a job well done”.
Following her appointment, which took effect yesterday after the departure of the previous President, Alex Aranzábal, Amaia Gorostiza appeared alongside two of the vicepresidents, Mikel Larrañaga and Joseba Unamuno (the other vicepresident, José María Arrizabalaga, was not in attendance) and the new Managing Director, Patricia Rodríguez, who has until now been the Financial Director of the club.
During her speech, Amaia Gorostiza stated that the decision to end the term as board members of Eibar after the departure of Alex Aranzábal “is based on an act of responsibility, with the clear goal of continuing with a project that we as a board have devised together in recent years and which we have been managing to date quite successfully, I would say”.
“We believed it would be gravely irresponsible to abandon it now, at a stage where certain elements of management have yet to be implemented, and especially when we could jeopardise the sports project which is currently under construction in accordance with these dates and other lines of work within the field of institutional, business and financial management in which we are working. In all these cases, a climate of instability is far from ideal”.
“I am extremely proud to accept the title of President and I would like to thank my colleagues for the trust they have placed in me. However, I would like to make it clear once again that this is not going to be ‘the project’ of the new President, but rather of the entire team as part of this family and which I am going to be proud to preside over”.
Alongside Mikel Larrañaga and Joseba Unamuno, the new President explained the Board´s new management model, which “is primarily based on teamwork, and we are categorically not looking for one-person leaderships or particular protagonism from the individuals within our team”.
The Board will have three vicepresidencies and five committees.
The vicepresidencies will cover Sport (José María Arrizabalaga), Finance (Joseba Unamuno) and Institutions (Mikel Larrañaga).

Each of the five committees will be led by a member of the Board and they will be as follows:

1-A Sports Committee, which will also include Fran Garagarza and the technical secretariat. Sporting success is based on these people, as they are the ones who have made and will make footballing decisions alongside the coach, and they will be able to take part in this Committee upon request. Let´s not forget that these decisions are the most important ones for a football club at the end of the day.

2-A Media and Institutions Committee, which will be responsible for managing media, institutions, factions of supporters, fans and the club´s own internal communications, as well as responding to members and shareholders.

3-A Financial Committee, which will be managing budgets, financial planning, accounts and human resources unrelated to sport. We are currently privileged to have a project which is in profit not debt, and has cashflow. We are of course committed to ensuring that this remains the case and that we will end the second season in profit once more.

4-A Sales and Marketing Committee, which will be in charge of sponsorship, product sales and internationalisation, raising the profile of the Eibar Project around the world.

5-An Operations Committee, which will be in charge of all projects on site, including security, purchasing and maintenance.

The above Committees will meet every fortnight.

“We have excellent board members who have experience in each of these areas, as well as excellent professionals who are responsible for day to day management and we would like to give them a greater role. These professionals will be led by Patricia Rodríguez, who is now Managing Director of the club,” she added.

There will also be an Executive Committee (comprising the President, three vicepresidents and Patricia Rodríguez), which will be responsible for monitoring both management and key indicators.

As the highest governing body, the Board of Directors will be responsible for making strategic decisions. It has twelve members and will meet once per month.

It should be stated that an Auditing and Internal Control Committee has been set up, as is often the case with any company that has several shareholders. Its main purpose is to ensure compliance with the club´s policies, procedures and Code of Ethics, making sure that management processes are controlled and any expenses incurred have been justified. This committee is led by a board member and an independent external assessor who will form part of the club´s supervisory and control body.

A Legal and Compliance Committee has also been set up. Led by José Miguel Fiallegas and Jon Ander Ulazia, it will be in charge of ensuring that the club complies with law by advising on the management of commercial, civil, fiscal and employment matters that are related to the organisation. It will also be responsible for ensuring compliance with the procedures and policies which are put in place.
“This is a modern organisation and business model that has clearly defined management processes and is meticulous as far as compliance is concerned”.
“We intend to end the term with a project that is channelled, ordered and organised professionally, and thereby pass it on to those who select the shareholders at the following elections in a responsible way”.
Amaia Gorostiza stressed that “this board remains cohesive and the decisions that we have made have been backed by the vast majority, with a significant level of consensus”.
She also made it clear that she had “complete confidence in José Luis Mendilibar and his team, as not only has he fitted into the club from a footballing perspective, but his personality and style are also aligned with our ‘Eibar model’”.
It is expected that coach José Luis Mendilibar will have his contract renewed next week when he returns from the club´s tour of the United States.
Gorostiza also mentioned the Eibar Foundation, which is expected to undergo a “revival” in order to “emphasise the importance that it really has because it should be the instrument for continuing on with Eibar´s work in the community, it has a major social responsibility that we have to promote” through initiatives such as the future museum, training classes and grassroots football.
“We are therefore looking into the possibility of having new figures such as ex-players, institutions and individuals who are important in our circle join the trust”.
Amaia Gorostiza is the first woman to be President of Eibar in all its 76 year history.