Other differences between Deportivo and the City Council due to the new contract at Riazor

The disagreements that have arisen between the City Council of A Coruña and Deportivo on the occasion of the negotiation of a new contract do not only concern the commercial use of the name of the Riazor Stadium, but also cover other aspects of the relationship.

Next Teresa Herrera, August 5

The club unilaterally set the date for the new edition of the Teresa Herrera trophy, according to Antonio Couceiro, “after several months of persistently asking the City Council to confirm if they will use the stadium, and on which dates, to hold concerts this summer”. She also informed the City Council that she will be putting up the grass at the stadium on July 17.

Events organized by the club at the stadium

As part of the current agreement, Deportivo yesterday complained to its president that it has to pay for the damage the stadium suffered due to the music festival last summer. On the other hand, these damages are not recorded by the municipal institution, which made a notary record of the condition of the building before and after the concerts, and the established damages were borne by the insurer contracted by the promoter. According to Couceiro, Deportivo also agreed with the City Council for a Ukrainian team to replace the former Teresa Herrera, “with the costs that this entails,” he said. In the next agreement, the club wants to include the possibility of organizing its own events outside of football.

Without any patronage of the City Council to the club

The President of Deportivo pointed out that the City Council does not contribute a single euro to Deportivo’s coffers through sponsorship. The advertising posters found in the stands of the Marathon Superior were placed there in 2017, but the A Coruña club confirms that they were not collected during the current municipal mandate.

A longer term for a new job

Deportivo intends to undertake various works on the ground floor of the Riazor, such as a future tour-museum dedicated to the history of the club and the stadium itself. That is why, although in the first talks the intention was to extend the agreement until 2045, i.e. five years less than the one signed in 2000, in the last talks there was talk of signing a new agreement for ten years.

A year and a half of negotiations that exploded

The last contract was terminated in July 2020, when Deportivo’s ownership share changed. The contract included that if the club passed into the hands of the majority owner, it would be left without free use Riazor, but the City Council allowed its use under the same conditions while a new one is being negotiated. The first municipal proposal, in the form of an appendix (or supplement) to the current pact, dates from November 4, 2021. The club assures that it responded with four on the same day deviations: deadline (the City Council proposed only until 2031); abolition of compatibility between events organized by the City Council and Deportivo matches; covering up the fact that the City Council would bear the costs of damages for the events it organized; and the renovation of the municipal VIP box, which the club proposed in exchange for 20 grandstand tickets. By not giving an answer to this proposal, the City Council makes it clear that the agreement will not be such addition, but a new deal. In January, without the club having a draft, it was announced that the new contract would be signed on February 13. Fed up with this kind of treatment, the club council expressed its discomfort last Friday.