by The fans of Burgos from Spain interrupted the Copa del Rey match against Mallorca this Sunday with a shower of counterfeit bills in protest against the recent sale of the club to a controversial Argentine businessman.
As soon as the match corresponding to the 16th finals of the traditional Spanish tournament began, from one of the seats of the El Plantío stadium they threw counterfeit bills and The match had to be stopped for a few minutes. to clean the area.
The papers that pretended to be dollars had the face of those responsible for the Yucon Group, which at the end of last year sold the largest share package to the Argentine businessman Marcelo Fígoli. The face of the owner of Fénix Entertainment was also on the bills.
Burgos FC had been managed by another Argentine, Antonio Caselli -who ran several times unsuccessfully as president of River- between May 2019 and July 2021. He is the son of the former Argentine ambassador to the Vatican during Carlos Menem’s government. According to the Diario de Burgos, Antonio Caselli’s management was a failure that ended with a debt of 6 million euros from the club.
This management led to a new Board of Directors, made up of, among others, Rodrigo Santidrián Hidalgo and Jesús Martínez Nogal, which They ended up selling the share package to Fígoli for several million euros. Some sources maintain that there would have been twenty.
“The Burgos business group (Yucon) transfers 47% of its shares to Fénix Entertainment, a member of Grupo 360, a company owned by Marcelo Fígoli. Both will share space on the new Board of Directors,” the club announced in an official statement on last December 30th.
According to the newspaper As, this Sunday the Federation of Peñas del Burgos CF, La Hinchada del Arlanzón and the Association of Small Shareholders of Burgos CF extended a large flag that said “sold to the worst bidder”, in addition to unleashing a rain of bills with the faces of Fígoli and the former owners of the club.
🇪🇦 The Copa Del Rey match between Burgos and Mallorca was stopped due to the throwing of fake bills onto the playing field, the fake bills were Argentine Dollars and Pesos 🇦🇷, Burgos was sold to Grupo 360 of the Argentine businessman Marcelo Fígoli. pic.twitter.com/deDts2Mm4U
— 🥊𝕳 BARRAS DEL MUNDO ⚽🍺 (@Barras_LATAM) January 7, 2024
After this action by the fans, the club deployed a veritable army of ball catchers to sweep the papers from one of the areas. The match was delayed for long minutes and, when it resumed, the local team was eliminated from the competition at the hands of the islanders by 3 to 0.
Fígoli, an expert in buying bankrupt companies
The Fénix business group is also the owner of media (radio stations, TV and print media), and has a division of theme parks and attractions, among which the Parque de la Costa stands out.
Fígoli is linked to both Sergio Massa and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta. In 2019, after being the only bidder and with no history, he was awarded the concession of the former zoo, the City Ecopark.
In January of last year, Figoli landed in the public street advertising segmentwith the purchase of the company Grupo Vía, which has a strong presence in subways, trains, shopping malls and screens conducted on avenues in the city of Buenos Aires.
The owner of Alpha Media and Fenix Entertainment partnered with Juan Manuel Infante to buy Grupo Vía, an advertising communication company with more than 25 years of experience in the country, for which they paid around US$ 2.5 million.
During the presidency of Alberto Fernández and by his link with Sergio Massahe was left with another business that was in decline, the Coast park, located in Tigre, land of massism. In March 2021, in an event with the Buenos Aires governor Axel Kicillof and Massa himself, the purchase of Parque de la Costa was announced. What was acquired for a symbolic price, with the commitment to face a debt of 12 million dollars.
Figoli is, through Alpha Media, owner of the radio stations Rivadavia, La990 (Ex Splendid), AM 550, Rock & Pop, Blue, Metro, LT3 Rosario, Info 95.5 and La 103.1, together with the Noticias Argentinas (NA) agency. and the local version of Newsweek magazine.
The businessman’s core job is organizing shows, through Fénix, a global entertainment and shows company, with a presence in Argentina, Latin America and Europe. His name was associated with America Group because, until the end of December, he was negotiating with Daniel Vila to purchase 50% of the group. In the end Vila regretted it and the operation did not go through.
The businessman also moved forward with the purchase of Neuquén Channel 7, one of the Telefe repeaters that is sold throughout the country. This acquisition is strategic because it is a medium that is of interest to the Neuquén Popular Movement and also to the businessmen who operate in Vaca Muerta.
