Fernando Lamikiz Garai (born 1959 in

Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

, Basque Country, Spain) is a lawyer, economist and former president of

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

. ''Lamikiz'' studied economic law at the Deusto University. After further studying in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, he returned to

Deusto Deusto, also known as Deustu in Basque and formerly known as ''San Pedro de Deusto'', is one of the eight districts of Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption ...

as a lecturer in

Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

. He was member of the board of directors of Athletic from 1994 to 2001, heading the legal department. He was president of Athletic from September 2004, until his resignation in September 2006. He stepped down following Athletic's poor performance in the 2005-06

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

season and uninspired beginning of the 2006–07 season, combined with prolonged negative press surrounding his involvement in the illegal attempt to sign defender

Iban Zubiaurre Iban Zubiaurre Urrutia (born 22 January 1983) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right-back. Club career Zubiaurre was born in Mendaro, Gipuzkoa. After making his Real Sociedad first-team debut during the 2004–05 season, he achie ...

from rivals

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

. His resignation, widely believed to have come as the result of sustained protest by vocal supporters of Athletic, was effected on 27 September 2006. His deputy, Ana Urkijo, took on the role until 2007, becoming the club's first female president.

References

People from Guernica Living people 1959 births 20th-century Spanish lawyers University of Deusto alumni Spanish economists Athletic Bilbao presidents Basque economists Businesspeople from the Basque Country (autonomous community) {{Spain-law-bio-stub