The economy: the other major battle

There is a sense of optimism in the stands of our temple of dreams, the Ovni. Point by point, the team, earned from the distinguished visitors this second half of the season has brought us, is in an ideal sporting position to face the final third of the championship. With only the last six rounds remaining, we are eight points above the relegation line and have the head-to-head advantage over Toledo. It is therefore an excellent position from which to achieve our objective and consolidate our return to this Asobal league on sporting grounds.

However, those of us responsible for management always have to look elsewhere. I remember perfectly how, in May, while most of the city was celebrating and taking pride in what had been achieved, there were ten lunatics—the directors—who looked rather more serious. We wondered where on earth the sponsors and institutions were that were going to share with us the budget twice the size of the one we had barely managed to put together through blood, sweat and tears in order to gain promotion to the league of the greats.

When we raised this question with our partners and our Mayor, both sides gave us the same answer: “We are here and we are not going anywhere.” Our president, always so realistic and sincere, as well as being a relentless campaigner, repeatedly reminded us that, despite the Town Hall’s extraordinary effort to register the team, we still had a budget shortfall of the handsome sum of 250,000 euros at the start of the championship.

Our Mayor’s efforts, and his struggle to help us increase the club’s list of sponsors, managed to reduce the problem considerably, but unfortunately, as of today, we still have a shortfall of 150,000 euros. This means that either we raise it, or sooner rather than later we will enter a cycle of delays and consume resources from the following financial year—a case of short-term relief and long-term hardship—in order not to add to the long list of Spanish professional handball organisations unable to pay their professionals on time.

We are so transparent, and so persistent with our warnings, that the paradox is that more than one person may think, “Here they go crying again as usual.” But no, gentlemen. There are two and a half months left of the season and, logically, when you do not have the income but do have the expenses, it is at the end of the road that problems begin to emerge. As of today, we have no outstanding payments, either to our players or to our suppliers. Only the firm support of this city’s major companies and consortia, and of our leaders, will ensure that this remains true.

Because let’s not fool ourselves: this is not a sport that receives television rights fees (you almost have to pay to be televised); this is not a sport where national sponsors come knocking at your door offering their support; and, of course, it is not a sport where you can raise around one million euros from the subscriptions of 1,500 members.

As with everything in our divided city, no one from outside will come to help us. We are the ones, with our leaders at the forefront, who have historically had to save the day. And we, the Alser BM Puerto Sagunto support base, are the ones who must remind—and almost socially oblige—all the major consortia based in this city to support our most emblematic team. If you look through our magazine, our kit and our posters, you will see major absences among the most important and symbolic companies in this city. We need all the social, political and institutional pressure possible so that no one, no one, can look the other way, and so that they finally support the most important handball club in the province of Valencia and the club with the largest support base in the entire Camp de Morvedre. My position prevents me from naming names, but all you need to do is walk from the sea to the castle to see major national and international consortia that do not even have a paltry 1,000-euro poster in the Ovni.

Of course, private and public companies are sovereign in their management, but perhaps if we start reminding them of what looks so good on their websites—their Corporate Social Responsibility and other such nonsense—then this collective dream of our city will not have to close down. Because, dear friends, we are not going to put sixty years of club history at risk through bankruptcy. The person writing this and his fellow directors will never do that. So either we all get involved, or we will move towards an Alcobendas-style model of dropping down a division, because the Teka, Altea, Avidesa, etc. model is not what this club deserves.

I am sorry to act as the messenger, but no one should be under any illusion: as things stand today, BM Puerto Sagunto does not have a sustainable, viable and lasting funding model for a team in Asobal. We still have time to achieve one.

Carlos Argente.

Vice-President responsible for communications

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.