In an amazing night at the CD Tenerife AGM last night (Tuesday), the old regime were unexpectedly ousted thanks to a masterstroke by incoming new owner and future President Rayco Garcia, which was completed just 30 minutes before the meeting started.
It was blatantly clear the club needed a fresh start after years of mismanagement that has resulted in a relegation battle this season that will be difficult to evade. However, they now have a chance as the club has been given a massive boost by the dramatic chain of events.
With an impeccable operation of legal engineering, the lawyer Pedro Yañes, together with Carlos Alonso (both advisors to former president Miguel Concepción), executed the perfect plan to leave businessman José Miguel Garrido in the minority and elevate Rayco García to the presidency.
The operation was carried out by circumventing the agreements that united the syndicate that has been in charge of the club for the last year, without there being a violation of the agreement between those partners.
What happened and who is Rayco Garcia?
Rayco Garcia, a 38-year-old businessman from the north of the island, once played for CD Tenerife at youth levels before enjoying spells at FC Barcelona and Leeds United but failed to make the first teams.
He soon realised that his talents lay elsewhere and he embarked on a career that included being a FIFA agent (he was a consultant in the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Al-Nassr) and he also became an ambassador for UNICEF in Africa.
Garcia was one of the first entrepreneurs to set up padel tennis centres in Saudi Arabia and also organises Legends football tournaments across the World - one of which was the Diego Maradona tribute between Boca Juniors and FC Barcelona.
The ex-maximum shareholder, Miguel Garrido, an investor based in London, is still reeling from last night’s events which saw two of his closest allies on the board unceremoniously sacked on the spot, as well as personally losing control of the football club.
Fans had gathered outside the stadium but the planned protests against the way the club has been run, soon turned into joy as news broke about the "coup dètat" happening at the AGM inside the stadium, finally giving them something to cheer about.
At the last minute, the old regime pulled the plug on any live coverage, but shareholders present at the meeting were relaying the news to reporters via WhatsApp.
As soon as the old regime had been replaced the media were allowed to enter the building which hopefully heralds the start of a more transparent era for CD Tenerife on and off the pitch.
New ownership. New President. New Sports Director. New players. New manager? Maybe.
