Luis Cuervas

Luis Cuervas Vilches (5 May 1932 – 4 November 2002) was a Spanish businessman and sports leader, who served as the president of Sevilla FC for nine years, from 1986 until 1995. The highlight of his presidency was the signing of Argentine footballer Diego Maradona in 1992.

Sporting career Born on 5 May 1932 in Seville, Andalusia, Cuervas stood out as a skilled businessman, joining Sevilla FC as a director during the presidency of José Ramón Cisneros, where he rose through ranks until becoming the club's vice president under Eugenio Montes.

Following his first election, the Sevillian journalist José Antonio Blázquez praised him in an ABC column, describing him as "ambitious, whole, a fighter and a potential winner, and likewise, in his first home match, Sevilla defeated Atlético de Madrid 3–0. In August 1992, following a match against Real Betis in a Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium packed with millions of tourists who were visiting the Seville Expo of 1992, Cuervas made fun of Betis in some statements to a national sports newspaper, to which the Betis president, Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, replied with a negative review of Cuervas' management in his club, and went as far as to state that he might even "file for bankruptcy very soon, and I say this as a financier, who receives information". Coincidentally, Cuervas and Lopera had been raised in the same neighborhood, El Fontanal, and even played with each other as kids.