Written ten novels, playwright, news presenter, minister and now runs a bookstore. The Valencian Máximo Huerta (Utiel, 1971) is a multifaceted character, with a lot of world and little filter, whether to talk about the Mestalla team, the World Cup or whatever. – Does he stop at any point? – If you stop you’re dead, although I also stop. I enjoy walking, drinking beers, thinking, but I also like calm.-Go on, go…-Of all the things said, what I like most is enjoying the time. Even from bad weather. A gray day relaxes me. My tension goes down. I am very ‘flâneur’ (walker) on sunny and cloudy days. -And besides walking? -I go to the gym, but not as often as others. I don’t have to show muscles, or compete. So I go in a fair and healthy measure.-His asthma has not allowed him to try other sports.-I can’t practice aerobic sports and they are the most fun. Of course I would have liked to practice them, but what I didn’t like was being last, like a pack. -No one likes us, but don’t tell me that stopped you! -Above all, because I don’t like to bother. And when you have limitations you are annoying. If you don’t breathe well, you notice that you are a liability. Maybe, over time, it has become an excuse. But as a precaution I withdrew. -And yet, sport has been the hanger that has spun part of its literature. I’m thinking about ‘Paris woke up late’ and its link with Olympism. -It seems to me that everything that surrounds sport is wonderful, except for specific events. What generates, what unites, that feeling, even in the face of defeat, that moving forward. I really like the spirit of the winner and the loser. I find a good mirror in the spirit of the loser. -What’s next as a fan? -When I was in Madrid, I went a lot to watch Real Madrid basketball. And I love tennis. I have gone to Roland Garros many times, as an audience. Even buying resale. -Is there as much machismo in sport as it seems from the inside? -In football you see more because there is a larger audience. In other sports it seems that there are fewer because they have less diffusion. Machismo has always been linked to sports because there have always been more male athletes. And it seems to them that the woman takes away their prominence. The figure of the woman is annoying. Some have not assimilated that sport is for everyone. There is machismo and there is homophobia, which is a branch of machismo. Don’t expect it to be recognized. In football, homosexuality does not exist. -I understand them. Being exposed to 80,000 people yelling ‘faggot’ at you is hard. If they do it in small clubs with the referees, imagine at a Bernabéu or a Camp Nou. That emotional pressure would be very hard. Everyone comes out of their closet when they can, when they feel like it. -On the other hand, lesbianism is more normalized.-Lesbian women are considered strong, which is a masculine attribute, like power. On the other hand, homosexuality is attributed feminine connotations, which is a form of brutal machismo. It will take time to normalize.-It is possible that, for the footballer, it will never stop being taboo.-In minority sports, yes. The athlete Tom Daley has a boyfriend and it is known. But in other sports it is complicated because the mass, in the insult, is very dangerous and hatred is contagious. It happens in sport, in art and in politics.-Football also has good things, it is a catalyst for solidarity. It has been seen with the tragedy of DANA.-Because there is a community, a group and, therefore, an organization and management. The fact that this group is united by whatever objective it is, to compete, win or socialize, makes it easier for a club to mobilize, whether small or large. Empathy is essential in sport. And in the face of tragedies, even more so. I like it when minutes of silence are kept or the rejection of racism and sexist violence is expressed. That part of the sport is wonderful. -Which universal athlete seems more ‘literary’ to you? -The queen of badminton, Carolina Marín, seems very literary to me. In his day, Andre Agassi. And I have a soft spot for the athlete who is not received at the airport or in the squares, the one who is not given a pass in Cybele or Neptune. -The Valencia thing is enough for a novel. Of terror.-It has generated pain, indignation and now it has turned into apathy, which is the worst of reactions. A kind of “I don’t care” or “meninfot”, as we say here. The Valencian is tired of the trouble, of the owner, of the management, of having an abandoned field. Pride and applause, which is what fills the athlete with strength, has been lost. They have worn it out and the consequence is that the results are bad. -Imagine that you write an ending for that story: are you saved or are you relegated? -Ugh! Maybe it needs that revulsion of relegation for the president and the spirit to change. And to come back strong. It’s terrifying. It is at the gateway to the Second Division. But it is still necessary to do that cleaning, in every sense. Staying the same means supporting those who are not doing well. -Are you excited about a World Cup, even though Valencia is not going to host it? -Not so distributed. It’s like stones. I don’t see the fun in such a divided World Cup. The epic is lost. It seems decaffeinated to me. It’s going to look like a TV show, not a World Championship. And the fact that Valencia is not the venue is a bluff. -Sport was the reviled part of culture. Now, even the great writers talk about football.-Because culture is entertainment. A book, a movie or a game should entertain. Then they will have more or less quality, but they must do it. Understanding that entertainment is healthy and beautiful is what has made that change. -Of all of 2024, which sporting event do you prefer? -The Olympic Games. I am fascinated by everything that surrounds that quote. I have read a lot, since the first ones. And having been in Paris, all the passions come together in one place. -And with which athlete? -Rafa Nadal is asking for a novel. He is a novel in himself. From the child who aspires to be a tennis player to the closing. In fact, I would start with that closing, after so many victories, injuries and fatigue. If we were English or North American, there would already be a film about his life. There will be one here, but it will cost more.
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