The 56 players from Lanzarote who were supposed to attend the Donosti Cup have finally stayed on land. After nearly 40,000 euros that the parents had paid for the kids to attend this grassroots football tournament vanished, they tried to raise money in order to participate despite the scam they were victims of. "We tried everything, but it couldn't be," laments the representative of all of them and coach of one of the teams, José Reyes, who admits that "the kids are devastated."
After discovering that they had suffered a scam, allegedly by the trip organizer and his wife - who were arrested and are free on charges - the parents decided to look for sponsors so that the children would not be left without participating in this sporting event attended by young people from all over the world. They managed to raise a significant amount, close to 5,000 euros, according to Reyes tells La Voz, but with that amount only the participation of some of the boys could be covered and "it was not fair" that some went and others did not.
"They were aids from small companies, one company put in a thousand, another put in 500…", he explains. In addition, the tournament organization offered them the food and insurance for the children at no cost. "The tournament director had helped us a lot," says the coach of the Sporting Tías youth team. Also the transport company contributed to knowing what had happened to them and reduced the price "almost in half." Likewise, in the place where they were going to stay offered to lend a hand and "gave them a night," explains Reyes. However, all those shows of solidarity were not enough. Even reducing expenses and limiting participation only to children and family members staying in Lanzarote, "half was missing, unfortunately."
"They all had the same illusion to go"
Finally, a "consensus" was reached, the coach relates, and the parents decided that "if not all the boys who could go were going, that none should go." "How do you tell one group yes and another no?", he asks. And it is that "they all had the same illusion to go, even if we had sent the group of the youngest", laments the coach.
Among the kids who were going to participate in the tournament, there were boys between 13 and 17 years old, from the children's, cadet and youth categories. "Even today the kids tell me that they see the news from there, that they go on Facebook and social networks to see how the tournament is going. They are devastated," explains Reyes, stressing that, despite the fact that he did "everything he could", "it was not achieved". "Bad luck," he adds.
No trace of the money
In addition to being the one in charge of the sports coordination of the players, José Reyes is also the one who filed the complaint on behalf of all those affected in Lanzarote. But both he and the parents allude to "prudence" to avoid the judicial question. "It is under investigation," this technician excuses himself. Added to his complaint is that of a club from the Madrid town of Vicálvaro, which also managed a trip with Damián Horacio Pueblas, in this case to the Lanzarote Cup tournament, and saw how the money of the 18 participants disappeared. The National Police of the Arrecife police station took charge of investigating both scams, which could amount to a total of 60,000 euros, and arrested both Pueblas and his wife, Ivanka Quesada.
Both were released on charges investigated for fraud last week and must appear in court every 15 days. The money, however, has not yet appeared. Reyes explains that the Police have told them that they will try to recover at least part of the money, that although they cannot promise it "with certainty, something could appear." Despite this, he points out that for now they have not received news that they have found it. And it is that, as La Voz has already published, sources close to the case believe that a good part of that money could have been "spent" and allude to a possible gambling addiction of Quesada, among other aspects.
"I don't believe anything from the two of them anymore"
One of the police hypotheses is that Quesada orchestrated everything and, in fact, her husband denounced her a few days before being arrested, after learning that the money for the Donosti Cup registrations never reached its destination. Reyes, for his part, does not know what to think. "To say what I believe would be to play fortune teller. It could be, but I don't want to venture," he says about the possible responsibility of Ivanka Quesada.
This coach had already collaborated with Pueblas last year, as the organizer turned to him for the "sports aspects". Then he remembers that "there was no problem" and "everything went fantastic." But what has happened this year, he explains, he doesn't "like anything, and less with children." In fact, he says that he has preferred "not even talk to him." "I haven't tried it much less. I have preferred to stay out of it to avoid problems or that he later even takes advantage of some rise in tone to pretend to be a victim," he says. After what happened, Reyes doesn't want to "believe anything." "After everything I've seen from the two of them, I don't believe anything anymore."