Atletico Madrid Open Fan Referendum On Club Crest Amid Supporter Fury

Spanish soccer club Atlético Madrid have opened a fan referendum, which will be non-binding in nature, regarding potential interest in returning to the club’s former crest, which was replaced in 2017.

A vote will be held for club members over the course of this weekend to gather information on fans’ potential interest in returning to the previous crest, which was used between 1947 and 2016.

It comes after the club’s Social Commission, comprised of representatives of different fan groups, proposed the vote following extended debate regarding the topic over recent months.

“The Social Commission met this Thursday, June 22nd at the Cívitas Metropolitano. At the meeting, club officials presented to the members of the committee the report on the implementation of the current Atlético de Madrid crest and the impact that a hypothetical change of it would have,” a club statement explains.

“The report has been prepared with data from Nielsen, Deloitte Football Money League, Football Benchmark, LaLiga and internal audit data. In this way, the club has fulfilled the commitment it made to the committee to present the report at the end of the 22-23 season.

“After the presentation of the contents of the report, the members of the committee have proposed an immediate consultation with Atlético de Madrid’s members on whether or not to return to the previous crest, which the club’s directors have committed to carry out this weekend.”

Praise for the commission

Fans, who held protests throughout this season regarding the matter, have been quick to express their support for the vote, with many seeking to encourage others to join and enable elderly club members to cast their vote using the online portal.

The approach to consider the vote as a “statement of interest” could mean that abstensions are considered the same as a vote for the current crest, implemented in 2017 with the move to the Metropolitano stadium. As such, some fan groups are actively encouraging as many members to vote as possible.

“Thanks to the work of the social commission, six years later, Atléticos will have the opportunity to express our opinion on the change of crest. Let’s vote during the weekend without entrenchment, without talking about good guys and bad guys and accepting that Atlético Madrid belongs to everyone,” the fan group Peña Bendita Locura stated.

Voting is only available for the club’s members, who number over 130,000, both for those with a season ticket and those without. The vote will be conducted over the online portal used for other administrative matters.

“The members of the commission have expressly asked to include in this note their ‘gratitude to the club for the constitution of this commission to establish a more fluid communication with the fans and to have fulfilled in time and form its commitment to listen and value the concerns of the different sensitivities that exist in a fan base as numerous as ours’,” the statement concluded.

Former and current players share their views

Following the news, several current and former players have posted pictures of themselves wearing jerseys or of flags with the club’s old crest. Among them are current players including captain Koke, midfielder Saúl Ñíguez and defender José María Giménez, as well as former players such as club icons Paulo Futre, Gabri Fernández and Fernando Torres.

While most simply posted photos, Kiko Narváez, who made over 250 appearances for the club, captioned his publication on social media with the message, “in my chest or in my heart, I yearn for you”.

While the vote is non-binding, the club have promised to take the views of fans into consideration. In the past two seasons, this has led to the release of retro-style jerseys which feature previous club crests, with sales exceeding expectations.

Now, this referendum could provide an answer or solution to the debate which has raged on in the stands and in club offices in the six years which have passed since the change to the club’s crest.