Dmitry Piterman

Dmitry Piterman (Ukrainian: Дмитро Пітерман; born 18 December 1963) is a Ukrainian-American businessman. He owned Spanish La Liga football clubs Racing de Santander and Deportivo Alavés in the 2000s.

Early years

Piterman was born to a Jewish family in Odessa, in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union. Eight of his father's brothers were killed by the Nazis in World War II.[1] At the age of 15 his family emigrated to the United States, settling in California where he attended college at UC Berkeley, excelling in sports – including triple jump, later narrowly failing qualification for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.[2]

Football career

Piterman relocated to Spain in 1991, immediately buying two football clubs: amateurs Tossa Sport and fourth division side Palamós CF, with the latter promoting to the third level under his ownership in 2002. Three years earlier he had been elected club president and had his firsthand at coaching in spite of not being qualified to do so.[2]

In January 2003, while still president at Palamós, Piterman bought 24% of Racing de Santander's shares, thus reaching La Liga. He insisted on being his team's manager, which granted him disciplinary action from the Royal Spanish Football Federation for being in the technical area, which he sometimes eluded by being accredited as a journalist or photographer.[3] When criticised for wanting to manage the club despite a lack of experience and qualifications as such, he mentioned how George W. Bush was allowed to be in office as President of the United States.[1]

After a brief spell in handball, also in Cantabria, Piterman bought a 51% controlling stake in Deportivo Alavés in July 2004,[4] helping it return to the topflight in his first season, with Cos now acting as director of football. The American's spell in the Basque Country was also a rocky one, with three coaches being used during the 2005–06 campaign, which ended in relegation, the dismissals occurring when the managers refused to accept his interferences and impositions.[5] Clashes also occurred with the club's players[6][7] and fans alike.[8] Piterman left a debt in the Alavés of more than 25 million euros (35 million USD), and fled the country leaving the team on the verge of bankruptcy.[9]

The Cos/Piterman tandem appeared in 126 matches in Spanish football, winning 63, drawing 29 and losing 34. In 2006, he purchased a USL First Division franchise in San Francisco, California, the California Victory; it folded in one year, after he had already sold his stake of Alavés.[10]

References
  1. Ball, Phil (May 2003). "Dimitri sparring". When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  2. El hombre de las mil caras (The man of a thousand faces) Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine; El Periódico Mediterráneo, 2 December 2002 (in Spanish)
  3. Funny old round-up; BBC Sport, 30 January 2003
  4. "Piterman ya controla el Alavés y trae varios fichajes, como Bodipo" [Piterman now controls Alavés and brings several signings, such as Bodipo]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 12 July 2004. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  5. Piterman se carga a Juan Carlos Oliva por "insubordinación" (Piterman ousts Juan Carlos Oliva for "insubordination"); 20 minutos, 16 February 2006 (in Spanish)
  6. Carreras denuncia el "trato vejatorio" de Piterman (Carreras denounces "vexatious treatment" by Piterman); 20 minutos, 1 December 2006 (in Spanish)
  7. Piterman llama gordo y borracho a Óscar Téllez (Piterman calls Óscar Tellez fat and drunkard); Diario AS, 17 May 2006 (in Spanish)
  8. Dimitri Piterman llama "subnormales" a los aficionados del Alavés (Dimitri Piterman calls Alavés' fans "morons"); 20 minutos, 22 February 2006 (in Spanish)
  9. La deuda del Alavés es de casi 28 millones de euros (Alavés almost 28 million euros in debt); Marca, 11 December 2007 (in Spanish)
  10. Whitecaps soccer league loses team Archived 25 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine; Canada.com, 20 November 2007
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