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Aitor Elizegi
Aitor Elizegi
32nd President of Athletic Bilbao
	In office; 27 December 2018 – 24 June 2022
Preceded by	Josu Urrutia
Succeeded by	Jon Uriarte
Personal details
Born	Aitor Elizegi Alberdi; 27 June 1966 (age 58); Bilbao, Spain
Political party	Basque Nationalist Party
Profession	Entrepreneur, chef

Aitor Elizegi Alberdi (born 27 June 1966) is a Spanish entrepreneur, chef and the president of football club Athletic Bilbao from 2018 to 2022.

Biography

Born in 1966, in Santutxu, Bilbao, Elizegi grew up supporting Athletic Bilbao, becoming a member of the club at the age of 25.^[1] Elizegi entered the culinary industry in 1987, winning the Spanish Chefs Championship a year later and the Basque Gastronomy Award in 2000 for best restaurateur at his Gaminiz restaurant.^[2] As of 2019, Elizegi is head of a number of Basque restaurants in Bilbao, including Txocook, Bascook and Basquery.^[3]

On 27 December 2018, Elizegi won Athletic Bilbao's presidential election to succeeding former incumbent Josu Urrutia, defeating Alberto Uribe-Echevarría, treasurer under Urrutia, by a margin of just 85 votes.^[a]

One of his first acts as president was to replace the long-serving sporting director José María Amorrortu with Rafael Alkorta and Andoni Ayarza, (both former players of the club),^[5]^[6] as promised in his election campaign.^[7]

He did not seek re-election at the end of his four-year term in 2022, with Jon Uriarte appointed to succeed him.^[8]

Politics

Elizegi is a member of the Basque Nationalist Party.^[9] Elizegi is a Basque nationalist and independentist,^[10] and has expressed a desire for the admittance of a Basque national football team into UEFA.^[11]

Notes

^ Elizegi polled in at 9,264 votes (47.9%), from 19,340 voting members, against Uribe-Echevarría's 9,179 votes (47.46%). 781 (4.04%) members voted blank and 116 (0.6%) remaining votes were considered invalid.^[4]

References

^ "Aitor Elizegi: "No ha sido lo mejor para el Athletic que Uribe-Echevarría haya sido el contador. Podría haber dejado un club mejor"" [Aitor Elizegi: "It was not the best for Athletic that Uribe-Echevarría was the accountant, he could have left a better club"]. Goal (in Spanish). 23 December 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
^ "'Un restaurante es una de las pocas zonas neutrales que quedan en Euskadi'" [A restaurant is one of the few neutral zones left in Euskadi]. El País (in Spanish). 30 April 2001. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
^ "Aitor Elizegi, Athleticeko presidente berria" [Aitor Elizegi, new president of Athletic]. Berria (in Basque). 27 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
^ "Aitor Elizegi, new president of Athletic Club". Athletic Bilbao. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
^ ""Llevo preparando esto desde hace mucho tiempo"" ["I've been preparing this for a long time"]. Deia (in Spanish). 30 December 2018. Archived from the original on 31 December 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
^ "Amorrortu llega a un acuerdo "amistoso" para salir del Athletic" [Amorrortu reaches a "friendly" agreement to leave Athletic]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 3 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
^ "Alkorta y Ayarza serían director deportivo y secretario técnico del Athletic con Elizegi" [Alkorta and Ayarza would be sports director and technical secretary of Athletic with Elizegi]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 24 December 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
^ Jon Uriarte confirmed as Athletic Club's new president, Football España, 24 June 2022
^ "El cocinero que se comió al aparato institucional" [The cook who ate the institutional apparatus]. El País (in Spanish). 30 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
^ Sid Lowe, Phil Kitromilides (29 December 2018). "No Festive Football" (Podcast). The Spanish Football Podcast. Event occurs at 3:52. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
^ "Elizegi: I would like to see the Basque Country in the European Championship". Marca. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2019.