Sevilla are in crisis mode on the pitch currently with Diego Alonso yet to win a league or Champions League game since he was appointed in October, but off the pitch things are just as chaotic. The shareholders meeting that took place on Monday saw former President Jose Maria del Nido Benavente face off against current leadership duo Jose Castro and Jose Maria del Nido Carrasco, his son.
Beyond the political mudslinging, Sevilla presented their plans for a new Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, but did not get their accounts approved for the current season. Over the past three seasons Sevilla have made a total loss of €85m, with the figure for this year looking at around €20m. Del Nido Carrasco has previously admitted that they will need to sell players in order to even up the accounts. Sevilla are still paying €30m for players and managers that are no longer at the club, after a turbulent time over the past two years.
The board did at least survive a vote of on their positions, and were not sacked by the shareholders, although del Nido Benavente, who holds over half of the shares, is currently barred from voting due to a long-time ban for financial crimes. He would go on to compare Castro to former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, for not allowing him to vote.
Prior to the meeting, del Nido Benavente had complained that he was not provided with the financial documents until hours before the meeting, not giving him time to look them over. During the meeting, he was also heard saying to his son, del Nido Carrasco, ‘you s***’.’ Meanwhile after he qualified the financial management of the board as ‘criminal’. This was met with the response that ‘you are the only one who has been convicted of crimes here’, from Castro, as per ED.
Del Nido Benavente was in charge of the club from 2002 until 2013, but was convicted of various crimes for which he served three years in prison from 2014 to 2017.
