Sailing America’s Cup | New Zealand are considering Valencia for the next Copa America

“They were fantastic as a host. It’s not fair to remove Valencia from the approach,” said Grant Dalton, during the Europa Press Sports Breakfast, when asked about the next edition planned for 2027, the administrator made clear: in the competition that is to choose the next headquarters, they first The One Hundred Guineas Cup is to be retained, as the Protector himself decides in which waters he will accept the challenge of unions seeking to dethrone him.

Grant mentioned Valencia when asked about the continuation of Barcelona, ​​and he neither ruled out nor ruled out the possibility of regattas returning to New Zealand. For Barcelona, ​​the defensive team’s CEO mentions the space issue. “There will be two new teams and now the infrastructure can only accommodate five. There is no way to accommodate them,” he explained of the 2024 venue, while describing Valencia as “an amazing place”.

If New Zealand are the defender, and therefore the organiser, the best contender, however, seems to be their home country. When the tournament was announced to be held outside the maritime nation (hence the tussle between Valencia and Malaga, who tried to bring the event to Arabia with pressure from Saudi petrodollars), the reason Auckland didn’t make it. Provide enough money to run again like in 2021.

“It would be wrong to stand here and say yes, it will happen, because New Zealanders want us to come back. But the conditions have to be right,” Grant Dalton appeared in Europa Press. At the level, America’s Cup regattas express themselves in these terms after showing their dismay at being moved overseas.

Barcelona was once officially designated as the venue for the regattas, which have already begun and will conclude with the final challenge scheduled for October next year. “I’m disappointed, but not surprised, because having the Cup in Barcelona is more commercial than Auckland and the commercial aspect prevailed for Dalton,” declared the New Zealand city’s mayor Bill Gough. “We believed our offer was fair, but we’re not going to get into a bidding war with anybody,” New Zealand Finance Minister Grant Robertson said when revealing the conservator’s decision to take the competition out of the country.

This has only happened three times in Copa America’s 173-year history: in Valencia (2007 and 2010) with the Swiss Alinghi (landlocked country) as host. After winning in San Francisco Bay in 2013, Oracle decided to move the races to Bermuda for the 2017 edition for tax benefits.

Looking ahead to 2027, political managers will be an asset in Valencia if they have the options. It should be remembered that the city council led by Joan Ribo was in favor of giving up the facilities, but not the money, which the Generalitat led by Ximo Puig (PSPV) was ready to provide. Now both Mayor María José Catala and Regional President Carlos Mazón are in favor of bringing the event, for which Náutico de Valencia also fought firmly as the organizing club. The Community’s businessmen fought until the last minute to put an offer on the table to convince New Zealand, and promised to return €6 for every contribution. Although Málaga appeared to be the major contender, Barcelona finally emerged with the firm commitment of its institutions and the Catalan business community.