Improvisation and inexperience, Mr. Lim

Since I was a child I´ve gone to the Mestalla Stadium, first with my father and now with my children. Even my 11-year-old daughter is one of the goalkeepers of the Valencia C.F girls team, something I´m particularly proud of.

However, I am not writing you this letter as a follower of Valencia C.F. but as an economist and business manager with over 30 years experience.

In my view, the first obligation of a businessman is to understand the nature of his business, partners and clients, and in this area you have not achieved this understanding. I have to write this letter in English so that decision-makers within the club will understand what I am saying. Any multinational company knows that the local vision is essential to achieve success in a global business. «Think global, act local», as the saying goes. Accordingly, please allow me to remind you that in this land where you have freely decided to develop your business there are 2 official languages: spanish and valenciano.

Any businessman knows that to develop a solid business in the long-term he must avail himself of a great team of professionals combining experience and youth, as well as developing good short, medium and long-term planning for the project and engaging the support of a Board where experts can add value to the enterprise, developing a shared and creative leadership to achieve business goals, the first of which is sustainability across time.

Nobody works in a company to decapitalize it or make experiments, least of all in the environment of a sport such as football which has such an enormous communication impact throughout the world. It´s all about managing intangible assets, linked to words like reputation, values, prestige, brand, etc. The good reputation of a brand is developed over a long period of time but losing it takes a very short time indeed.

Mr. Lim, I am sorry to say that in the nearly 2 years you have been at the head of our Valencia C.F. you have not fulfilled any of the requirements that a businessman should consider as crucial for the success of a project.

Improvisation, inexperience, impulsive decisions, lack of professionalism, giving preferential treatment to friends, authoritarianism, lack of transparency, diminishing the reputation of the brand, as well as aloofness seem to be the core of the management strategy that you have shown as your style in this nearly centenary club. At least, as far as I can see that is the image the club is projecting.

In addition, I am surprised that a successful entrepreneur like you, who has put into the club his own money, apparently dozens of millions of euros, maintains these strategic working lines in action because, if you do that with your money nothing very different can be expected for the money that investors, financial institutions or shareholders could make available for your management. This is important because, in the business world, if there are no strategic visions and management practices, confidence erodes, energy is lost and exhaustion appears.

Quite sincerely, the cause of my concern is that the reputation and good name of my city is linked to your personal and business project. If this project is not managed adequately, eventually it will be given up. However, for us, the supporters and followers of Valencia F.C., who believed in your success as a businessman and who are your partners and clients, there will be no solution.

Rectifique, por favor, Mr. Lim.