Watching a First Division team play in Las Gaunas is always an event, both mythical and unusual. Logroño was experiencing that previous euphoria just a few days ago after it was announced that the next rival of the Unión Deportiva Logroñés in the Copa del Rey would be Athletic Bilbao. One of the greats in one of those fields that have marked the history of football in Spain. But the joy was short-lived. And when the date of the match was known, January 5, all of Logroño deflated. That day the football field is occupied by one of the most anticipated events in the city: the arrival of the Three Wise Men by helicopter.
Every January 5, around seven in the morning, families begin to arrive at the Las Gaunas municipal field. In just minutes, kilometer-long lines will accumulate at each of the stadium doors. Blankets, thermoses and, above all, thousands of smiles. At nine in the morning the doors will open and the lucky ones will run to take their seats. It is the only day of the year that the stadium has full capacity. The rest, those who arrived later, will have to stay in front of the giant screen that the Logroño City Council installs outside.
At ten o’clock the sound will be heard in the distance, the entire city looks at the sky, from the street, the offices, the shops… And 13,600 people, most of them boys and girls, will take out their white handkerchiefs while shouting their names . Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar, riding in a huge helicopter from the Bhelma III Battalion of the Spanish Army, will land on the football field, starring every year in a moment that is part of the memory of generations and generations of Logroño residents. This year football has put him in danger and that in Logroño cannot be forgiven.
The entire city was vibrating since last December 4, after an epic victory for the UDL against Girona, it became known that one of the four biggest teams in Spanish football would play in Las Gaunas. On Monday of this week it was revealed that the chosen one was Athletic Bilbao. Everything smelled like a party, not only for the fans but for the entire city. Football in Logroño is lived intensely despite not having a team in the First Division since 1997. Or perhaps precisely because of that.
But the joy was short-lived. The date chosen for the meeting, January 5 at 9 p.m., represents a major problem for the city that does not want to give up its most exciting tradition. And, although the times do not coincide, the celebration of the match would involve a whole list of preparations on the football field that would affect the arrival of the Three Wise Men. As it is a televised match, the cameras would have to be installed at least the day before, which would reduce capacity and limit the use of the stadium for the arrival of Their Majesties from the East. “My father had told me that we could come to football even if it was late. But I don’t know if I want to anymore because if football is going to annoy the Kings and on top of that I’m going to miss the parade…”, reflects Daniel, an eight-year-old boy, an Athletic fan from Logroño, summarizing the feeling of the entire city. .
The Logroño City Council also agrees with the little one: the Three Wise Men are the priority. That is why they have formally asked the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to advance the Copa del Rey round of 32 match to January 3 or 4, days on which other qualifiers will be played. This has been agreed by the Local Government Board, which has also directed this explicit request to the Logroñés Sports Union, urging the club’s management to pressure for a date change. “This schedule disrupts the plans due to the arrival of the Three Wise Men and also due to the parade,” said Celia Sanz, spokesperson for the Logroño City Council. The council believes that “great harm is being caused to the city” and points out that despite the pride that the UDL is playing against Athletic, they are clear that “the priority of the government team is that day, that excitement and that welcome.” ”.
The Basque team, although for other reasons, is also going to request a change in the date of the match. And Athletic Bilbao faces Barcelona three days later in the semifinal of the Super Cup being played in Arabia. Ernesto Valverde’s men consider it “unfair” to have one less day of rest than their rival, since Barça plays their Cup match on Saturday, January 4. They are therefore studying to file a formal protest with the RFEF.
The Logroñés Sports Union, for its part, claims to have also started the process to request a change of date. “We hope that the RFEF and the television operators, who are the ones calling the shots, are sensitive and allow us this modification,” explains Juanjo Guerreros, “from a sporting point of view we have no justification, but we are very sensitive to Athletic, which has to move to Saudi Arabia. We understand that any other time is better for the influx of public.”
Given the complaints, the RFEF Competitions Department could already be studying a new date, as published by the newspaper Marca, and Friday, January 3 would be the possibility with the most options, since there are only Cup matches scheduled at 7 p.m. hours.
All parties are optimistic but the last official word has not yet been said and many are debating at this time in Logroño between the illusion of football and that of the Three Wise Men and they wonder why children, and those not so children, have what to choose.
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