Manuel Ruiz de Lopera died this Sunday, at the age of 79, at his home in Seville after leaving the intensive care unit of the Santa Isabel clinic in Seville. The businessman and former president of Real Betis was admitted months ago for digestive problems resulting from intestinal diverticulitis.
Lopera was one of the most remembered sports leaders of the 90s and 2000s in Spanish football. At a time when millionaire businessmen such as Josep Lluís Núñez, José María del Nido, Jesús Gil and José María Ruíz-Mateos dominated the covers more than the footballers, the former leader of Real Betis Balompié also earned a place in that complicated but lucrative time for the media.
Lopera left moments that will go down in the history of football and the press, both sports and sensational, being one of those owners who were not afraid to stand out outside the stands of the stadium that bore his name. Although the fans ended up fed up with his management after years of poor results, the former Betic president will be remembered for a multitude of anecdotes, which transcend the extensive lineage of LaLiga.
One of the first names associated with Manuel Ruiz de Lopera is that of the Brazilian Denilson de Oliveira. The forward, who would end up spending seven years in Seville, came to Benito Villamarín at the whim of the manager, who made him the most expensive signing in world football in 1998: 30 million euros. A decision that would end up costing Luis Aragonés the resignation as coach and six blank months.
Such was the concern about his performance that the Betic president wrote an open letter to the footballer, published by Marca. “I don't know if you're going to play or not tonight, because you already know that I never get involved in the coach's job. What I want to tell you now is that our goal is to make you feel at home, among other things because we know that this is the way for you to perform on the pitch as only you know how," Lopera wrote on December 12, 1998.
Although Denilson would not score until February 1999, by then the businessman had already left scenes to remember, such as his speech after being promoted to Primera in 1994: “We were at the UVI. Nobody gave a penny for us. I give you a free, clean Betis, in First Division, yours, long live Betis!” Someone who had to deal with this soon-to-be free of the boss was the eternal Betic captain, Joaquín Sánchez.
Joaquín and Lopera have always maintained a special relationship, to the point of bringing the Copa del Rey that they won in 2005 to their wedding. However, he also had two strange moments during his time, such as being under surveillance by a private detective so as not to "get lost in the Sevillian night" or trying to send him to Albacete in the Second Division when he wanted to negotiate with Valencia in 2006. "Joaquín, like "You want to wear white, you're going to have to go to Albacete, they are very fond of you," he told him.
And the fact is that someone who sends his captain with a notary to Carlos Belmonte can only generate controversy and scares wherever he goes, as happened at the indelible Halloween party in 2001. The entire squad stayed at the Benjamín house without inviting Lopera, that when he showed up at the mansion he caused a scare among the players never seen before. The most striking was precisely that of Denilson, who ended up going out of the window.
