Mikel Larrañaga: "It's time to implement our commitment to take the initiative in Basque"

This morning the club's vice-president, Mikel Larrañaga, and head of Emun, Olatz Olaso, took their places at the press conference staged to unveil the club's Basque language Plan, a document which will act as a roadmap as the club continues in its efforts to make the use of the Basque language standard and promote it across all areas of the organisation.

Larrañaga opened proceedings by offering a reminder of the commitment made during the shareholders' general meeting in November, "We made a commitment to promote and use the Basque language and today's the day when we're presenting that work. It's an important day for all of us who love this language".

As Larrañaga noted during his address, the club has carried out an internal assessment and has drawn up a diagnosis of the current situation regarding the use of the Basque language, as the vice-president commented, "It's time to implement our commitment to take the initiative in Basque. We have to set an example and also make others use Basque. If along with the rest of the institutions we look after the language, in all of its facets, it'll be a very positive thing".

Olaso, the director of the consultancy firm Emun (www.emun.eus), insisted that, "It's important for Eibar to be taking this step, given that the club is a role model and we're certain that this will have a very positive impact within the community. The Basque language and football are come together to form a team and both will be stronger for it".

Olaso revealed the three elements which defined the situation at the club in terms of the use of Basque, "On the one hand, Eibar have already achieved a lot in terms of the use of Basque and in making the language the standard; secondly, the club has a good opportunity to continue its progress in this area; and finally, the most important thing is that there's great interest in continuing to work in this direction".