He has been president of the Spanish Federation since 1991, and just now that he is leaving, he has one of the great disappointments of his career in the sport of Basque pelota. After a “very complex” day, Julián García Angulo speaks to ABC to explain what happened after the Basque Country joined the International Federation. -How do you analyze what happened in Pamplona? -This comes from afar. Last year, the Basque Federation requested to join the International based on the PSOE-PNV agreement in the Sports Law. They accepted that request and called an Extraordinary Assembly, but great work was done, especially by the Spanish Olympic Committee, speaking with the countries involved, and we managed to prevent that Assembly from taking place because they knew they were going to lose it. Since then it has been a tough year, with a lot of political pressure. The president of the International Federation is handed over to the Basque Government, and they have been managing the situation. They have called an Assembly on December 28, when they have always been held to coincide with international championships, and this year they had had two opportunities to do so. But it is evident that they wanted to create difficulties so that the countries that support us would have problems attending. -And they have achieved it… -When they saw that Cuba was coming or that I could be there since the Hispaniola elections had not yet been held, they have set up your strategy. Cuba has been disqualified for resigning from a tournament in September, and a sanction has been imposed on me for failing to comply with the ethical code. They say that I criticized the Federation in an interview, and that this damages the image of our sport. They started the process at the last minute, with almost no time to make allegations. It is clear that there is premeditation in this so that none of us could vote. –They also did not let his companion, the Federation’s director of competitions, participate. –At first they allowed him to attend the meeting, but when they had done their numbers they stopped and said that he could not be there because he did not belong to the management board that is now in charge. That rule does not exist. They have also expelled him, and Spain has been left unable to vote. – Were the change of the Statutes and the inclusion of Euskadi on the agenda? – No. They have been included by another article of the Statutes that allows matters to be discussed if two-thirds of the Assembly accepts it. But only seven of the fourteen member countries were represented. It seems very serious to me that a statutory change is approved in that way. First they voted for that, and then the same people approved the inclusion of Euskadi. We feel outraged. – Is there any precedent for a change in the Statutes that has been done in that way? – Nothing. They have done the same thing they wanted to do last year and couldn’t, but this time without telling anyone. One has picked up the computer and read the proposed change to the agenda. –What steps can you take now? –We are not going to stop here. We are going to push forward to the last consequences. The way this has been done is an outrage for Spain. We are going to meet to see how far we can go and how we can report it, both to the International Olympic Committee and to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Higher Sports Council. What has been done cannot be allowed. We will go to ordinary justice if necessary. –Precisely, the CSD is the one who must now validate the decision of the International Federation. Are you expecting surprises? –The logical thing is that they validate it, although I know that there is already some movement to not allow it. There are two issues. I am not going to assess whether the Federation of the Basque Country has to be there or not, if this is done and achieved through normality. That is, it is presented and all countries vote knowing what is there. But the way it was done is outrageous, a real shame. – Could this decision affect the future of the Federation and the sport? The IOC does not handle this type of maneuvers well. –Indeed. We are not an Olympic modality, but we do have the recognition of the IOC, and we do not know what can happen in the face of this complaint and the rest of the irregularities of the International Federation. –Why do you say that Xavier Cazaubon, president of the International, is in charge? service of the Basque Government? –There is a record of a board meeting of the International last year in which the general secretary, who is an Argentine, explained that if the incorporation of Euskadi was approved, the federations would receive a greater contribution economical for the sport of ball. It’s shameless. What conclusion do you draw? That there is an economic agreement behind it. The president is doing sports a disservice. I am also going to ask for his resignation. –What has the CSD told you when they have spoken in the past about this issue? –This comes from before Uribes, from when Víctor Francos was there. And he told me that it was something that the Government had decided and that there was little he could do. We have spoken a lot with the CSD, also with the general director of Sports. We have conveyed our concern about this matter from the beginning. They cannot mix the Federations in political issues. There is no right to be involved in these matters and then pay the consequences. Why ball and surf yes and the rest of the sports no? Are we second-class citizens? It was political blackmail that the ruling party accepted and they did not value it well. They thought that the federations were not going to accept it and look, we already have one.
#CSD #outrage #outrageous
