Aitor Elizegi

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Elizegi and the second or maternal family name is Alberdi.

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

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 (1966-06-27) 27 June 1966 (age 57) Bilbao, Spain
Political party	Basque Nationalist Party
Profession	Entrepreneur, chef

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

1. 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

1. "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.
2. "'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.
3. "Aitor Elizegi, Athleticeko presidente berria" [Aitor Elizegi, new president of Athletic]. Berria (in Basque). 27 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
4. "Aitor Elizegi, new president of Athletic Club". Athletic Bilbao. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
5. ["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.
6. "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.
7. "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.
8. Jon Uriarte confirmed as Athletic Club's new president, Football España, 24 June 2022
9. "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.
10. Sid Lowe, Phil Kitromilides (29 December 2018). "No Festive Football" (Podcast). The Spanish Football Podcast. Event occurs at 3:52. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
11. "Elizegi: I would like to see the Basque Country in the European Championship". Marca. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2019.