Manuel Illueca inaugurates the series "Conversations Under the Stands" at the Ciutat de València.
The president of the ICO was in the new space conceived as a meeting point for the Business Club.
Levante UD has launched the cycle "Conversations Under the Stands" in a new space conceived as a meeting point for the Business Club and for those who are part of the great granota family with Manuel Illueca Muñoz, current president of the Official Credit Institute (ICO) and a fan of Levante UD since the late 1970s, when his father began taking him to Orriols to watch the team.
Illueca, who holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Valencia and a PhD in Business Administration and Management from Jaume I University of Castellón, has developed an extensive career in the academic and financial fields. Among other positions, he was director of the Valencian Institute of Finance of the Generalitat Valenciana (2015-2023) and president of the Reciprocal Guarantee Society of the Valencian Community (2016-2023). Since August 2024, he has presided over the ICO, after previously serving as general director of Risk and Financial Control in the same organization.
During the conversation, conducted in a close and relaxed tone, Illueca recalled some of the most emotional moments of his life as a granota, including the recent promotion of Levante UD to the First Division, which he publicly celebrated on his social media with a very personal message dedicated to those with whom he shared his first steps as a fan, among whom his father stands out.
He also spoke about the decisive matches of last season, his excitement at seeing hundreds of boys and girls attending the stadium every Sunday, and the importance of preserving and passing on the granota identity from generation to generation. Likewise, he expressed his interest in the process of recovering and repatriating the remains of José Ballester Gozalvo, the club's founder, as a symbol of commitment and respect for the memory of those who built Levante UD.
The latest from the ICO
The conversation also allowed for a clear explanation of what the Instituto de Crédito Oficial is and how it works, a public organization that channels financing towards investment projects for companies and entrepreneurs. Illueca detailed some of the new initiatives being promoted by the ICO, such as improving its reach through the creation of regional offices and strengthening direct support for small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the various lines of loans and guarantees managed by the entity.
The discussion also delved into issues related to the management of sports entities: the need for significant investments to boost a club, the financial control exercised by LaLiga, the parallels between managing a financial institution and a football club, the role of public institutions in the sustainability of entities with social roots, and the requirements to keep a club financially healthy and competitive at the elite level.
Finally, Illueca reflected on the future of Levante UD, a club that, as he wrote in his article, “for years only looked to the past because there was no future,” and that now faces a horizon full of opportunities if it continues building on solid foundations without losing its essence.