Aitor Elizegi Explained

Aitor Elizegi
Order:32nd
Office:President of Athletic Bilbao
Term Start:27 December 2018
Term End:24 June 2022
Predecessor:Josu Urrutia
Successor:Jon Uriarte
Birth Date:1966 6, df=y
Birth Place:Bilbao, Spain
Birthname:Aitor Elizegi Alberdi
Profession:Entrepreneur, chef
Nationality:Spanish
Party:Basque Nationalist Party

Aitor Elizegi Alberdi (born 27 June 1966) is a Spanish entrepreneur, chef and the president of football club Athletic Bilbao from 2018 to 2022.

Biography

Born in 1966, in Santutxu, Bilbao, Elizegi grew up supporting Athletic Bilbao, becoming a member of the club at the age of 25.[1] Elizegi entered the culinary industry in 1987, winning the Spanish Chefs Championship a year later and the Basque Gastronomy Award in 2000 for best restaurateur at his Gaminiz restaurant.[2] As of 2019, Elizegi is head of a number of Basque restaurants in Bilbao, including Txocook, Bascook and Basquery.[3]

On 27 December 2018, Elizegi won Athletic Bilbao's presidential election to succeeding former incumbent Josu Urrutia, defeating Alberto Uribe-Echevarría, treasurer under Urrutia, by a margin of just 85 votes.

One of his first acts as president was to replace the long-serving sporting director José María Amorrortu with Rafael Alkorta and Andoni Ayarza, (both former players of the club),[4] [5] as promised in his election campaign.[6]

He did not seek re-election at the end of his four-year term in 2022, with Jon Uriarte appointed to succeed him.[7]

Politics

Elizegi is a member of the Basque Nationalist Party.[8] Elizegi is a Basque nationalist and independentist,[9] and has expressed a desire for the admittance of a Basque national football team into UEFA.[10]

Notes and References

  1. News: Aitor Elizegi: "No ha sido lo mejor para el Athletic que Uribe-Echevarría haya sido el contador. Podría haber dejado un club mejor". Aitor Elizegi: "It was not the best for Athletic that Uribe-Echevarría was the accountant, he could have left a better club". Goal. 23 December 2017. 2 January 2019. es.
  2. News: 'Un restaurante es una de las pocas zonas neutrales que quedan en Euskadi'. A restaurant is one of the few neutral zones left in Euskadi. El País. 30 April 2001. 2 January 2019. es.
  3. News: Aitor Elizegi, Athleticeko presidente berria. Aitor Elizegi, new president of Athletic. Berria. 27 December 2018. 2 January 2019. eu.
  4. News: "Llevo preparando esto desde hace mucho tiempo". "I've been preparing this for a long time". Deia. Spanish. 30 December 2018. 11 January 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20181231124931/https://www.deia.eus/2018/12/30/athletic/llevo-preparando-esto-desde-hace-mucho-tiempo. 31 December 2018. dead.
  5. News: Amorrortu llega a un acuerdo "amistoso" para salir del Athletic. Amorrortu reaches a "friendly" agreement to leave Athletic. Mundo Deportivo. Spanish. 3 January 2019. 11 January 2019.
  6. News: Alkorta y Ayarza serían director deportivo y secretario técnico del Athletic con Elizegi. Alkorta and Ayarza would be sports director and technical secretary of Athletic with Elizegi. El Mundo . Spanish. 24 December 2018. 11 January 2019.
  7. https://www.football-espana.net/2022/06/24/jon-uriarte-confirmed-as-athletic-clubs-new-president Jon Uriarte confirmed as Athletic Club's new president
  8. News: El cocinero que se comió al aparato institucional. The cook who ate the institutional apparatus. El País. 30 December 2018. 2 January 2019. es.
  9. Sid Lowe, Phil Kitromilides. No Festive Football. The Spanish Football Podcast. 29 December 2018. 3:52. 2 January 2019.
  10. News: Elizegi: I would like to see the Basque Country in the European Championship. Marca. 29 December 2018. 2 January 2019.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Aitor Elizegi".

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