Spanish media: Athletic Club internal relations tense, some players' dissatisfaction with president has lasted for years

According to Spanish newspaper El Correo, the recent internal conflict at Athletic Club is not only because the club cancelled match tickets that players had previously been able to receive. The relationship between president Jon Uriarte and a considerable number of first-team players has actually been tense for some time, and the dressing room is unhappy with some measures he introduced at the Lezama training ground after taking office.

The team's two main captains, Iñaki Williams and Unai Simón, previously spoke publicly in Vigo, stressing that the players' dissatisfaction was not only caused by the cancellation of the tickets. Simón said: "We know people outside may think the issue is just about tickets, but there is more behind it. This is something that has built up over the past four years."

The players are currently waiting for a meeting with Uriarte. The captains have confirmed that both sides will sit down for talks this week, although no specific date has been made public. The meeting is considered an important opportunity to ease the tensions between the two sides.

According to sources close to the dressing room, the relationship between Uriarte and the players is relatively cold and distant. The players believe the president tends to appear when he needs to announce demands, cuts or restrictions, but rarely builds a closer connection with the dressing room in normal times.

Simón also said that the issue does not only exist within the men's first team: "These are some things inside the club, small details that have appeared over the past few seasons. It is not only our issue. Everyone has focused on the tickets, but we are willing to buy tickets ourselves. There are many other things behind this, and they have continued to accumulate. It is not only the players; club employees and women's team players have also been affected, so it is good for everyone to sit down and talk."

The report states that some specific measures have caused dissatisfaction among players. One of them was the club's cancellation of free meals for some staff members at Lezama. Two years ago, the measure first affected youth academy coaches, and this season it was extended to some staff members connected with the first team. In response, first-team players even considered jointly contributing money to create a fund to cover the meal costs for the affected staff.

Similar issues have also appeared in the women's team. The report states that women's players also lost the match tickets they had previously received, while the catering services they received at the Lezama training ground also changed.

However, the real trigger of the crisis remains the club's decision to cancel players' match tickets. The decision was communicated to the dressing room by club general manager Jon Berasategui. The players' dissatisfaction was not only with the policy itself, but also with the way the club informed them of the decision.

The players then requested direct communication with Uriarte and hoped to hold a meeting before travelling to play Barcelona, but it ultimately did not happen. Simón said: "We wanted to meet the president before the match against Barça, but we could not see him, and he was unable to attend at that time."

Uriarte also did not travel to Barcelona afterwards, meaning the players could not speak with him during the away trip. While the team was in Catalonia, they eventually decided to stage a protest and did not give media interviews after the match as originally planned. Uriarte later also did not travel with the team to Vigo. For a club president who normally attends the vast majority of matches, these two consecutive absences were unusual.

In Vigo, Iñaki Williams and Unai Simón first apologised to reporters for the previous refusal to give interviews in Barcelona. Their main purposes were to explain the players' position and to make clear that the protest should not simply be understood as being only about the cancellation of tickets.

Normally after Athletic Club away matches, only one or two players enter the mixed zone, speak for a few minutes, and the media department strictly controls the time. But in Vigo, the situation was different. The players clearly wanted to explain the matter, so they did not end the interviews quickly as they usually would.