Servando Revuelta (Santander, 1977), president since 2020 of Asobal, the association of professional handball clubs in Spain, has proposed that handball stop having a small sport complex. On its 40th anniversary, the organizing entity of the League (and before also the Asobal Cup, the Super Cup and the Copa del Rey) wants to once again have one of the best competitions in Europe, as it already was. Between 1990 and 2010, five Asobal teams won 13 of the 20 European Cups. “We are not going to go back to those years, but we can have a very competitive League,” says Revuelta in conversation with La Vanguardia.
What is the state of health of the Asobal League 40 years after the creation of the association?
As an association, its state of health is quite healthy and effervescent, in a scenario of new, exciting competition, in which several avenues must be explored. The clubs are meeting the requirements [being audited and up to date with Social Security] and are very proactive in investing; They have internalized that to get out of this situation of economic fear, now is the time to invest. Since 2015, no Asobal club has disappeared and since 2020 we have no evidence of any complaints from players.
Where is the Asobal League in the European ranking?
After France and Germany. Not financially, but in terms of play and the creation of young values. Players come from outside to train here expressly. We have the best coaches in the world, we have a brand and a recognizable handball, in rhythm, in tactical richness. The problem is that the best players are here.
The Asobal League has been a professional competition for a year, since it received CSD classification. What is it noticeable in?
What has been most noticed is the change that the clubs are having: they are trying to improve and be more professional in their structure, they cannot be dependent on the institutions. At an economic level we have achieved stability with the television operator (LaLiga) and with a title sponsorship partner (Plenitude). We need more sponsorships, to provide clubs with more possibilities so they can grow.
One of Asobal’s challenges is to have a competitive League again, but they have had the same winner for 14 years in a row. How can they promote a competitive League, without Barça’s monopoly?
Clubs must be provided with tools so that they can grow. There are clubs that do things well, like Bidasoa, Granollers, Ademar, that are making it more and more difficult, but I cannot be thinking about Barcelona lowering their level, or that it depends on other circumstances surrounding the club. We have to try to reduce the distances and the competition will be more competitive.
And how is that achieved?
The main thing is to make a genuine product and make it more visual. The handball that is seen on TV now has nothing to do with that of two years ago. A quality product is sold, we generate a brand. With the clubs’ investment in LEDs, in dynamic advertising, they can generate more income. And Asobal has to accompany them, provide them with more income. But for this the clubs must have a solid base, governed by professional people and not by family members.
They wanted to recover a handball classic to boost the rivalry and the League, whether it was Barça-Real Madrid or Barça-Atlético. Is it the right time you were waiting for?
We have had approaches with Atlético through the League and the Madrid City Council. Atlético is the historic team, a reference with the most high-profile early players such as Lorenzo Rico or Cecilio Alonso. It is vital that there is a team in Madrid, strategically, to generate rivalry. It worked when Ciudad Real arrived in Madrid and filled Vistalegre with a record number of spectators [11,963, in the 2013 Super Cup]. This is what we will try, but they don’t consider it. We would also like to recover large cities that were lost such as Malaga, Zaragoza and Valencia to reach a larger audience.
What stops Atlético from returning to handball?
His last experience was not good and the current leaders view him with suspicion.
What would the return of Atlético mean for the Asobal League?
We could not measure the growth of the Asobal League in terms of rivalry. And having a team in Madrid would make the target number of handball followers grow exponentially. It all comes together: the rivalry that two very large clubs, two capital cities, could generate, and the level of the competition would rise to be able to become attractive again and even change the competition system (with playoffs).
Do you see any alternative to Atlético, another powerhouse?
I wish a Betis or a Sevilla would emerge, which have a team in the First Division (BM Triana). It was also valued. We are the first interested in having a competitive team in a city that is interesting at a strategic level.
This year they have created the Hall of Fame of the great handball legends. What are you going to contribute?
We have to show that we are a professional League, with history, with stars and legends, with great capacity to organize events. We have to leave a legacy. In the first Hall of Fame there will be seven people, it could have been 200. We want to create a sense of belonging, generate a brand, overcome the complex of being small and proudly express and disseminate that we have been in the League for 40 years.
Asobal managed the League, the Cup, the Asobal Cup and the Super Cup, and over the years it has been declining. The last competition they lost was the Asobal Cup [the Spanish Cup was held, organized by the Spanish Federation]. Will they organize it again?
The intention is to recover the Asobal Cup. After the problem we had with the Federation, the 2024 calendar includes the Asobal Cup organized by the Association. I don’t think we’ll have any problems continuing to do it. We hope that before June 30 there will be a coordination agreement with the Federation. The clubs were not going to come to play [the Spanish Cup], but the Federation agreed to respect all commercial agreements and they have not been fulfilled, which will create an economic problem for Asobal.
