José María del Nido IV, born in Seville last August, does not know his grandfather. The family saga that ties him to Sevilla Fútbol Club has fractured. “I’m his son, I’d love for this to be over,” he said. José María del Nido Carrasco, 45, vice president of the club and on a path to the presidency, gave an interview to Radio Sevilla days earlier. “The proverb says do not put your hands between father, son and brother. I had a father and you knew him. To me, my father was God on earth. And right or wrong, even if he told me to jump off the roof, I tried to jump off the highest roof,” his father explained. José María del Nido Benavente, now 66, spoke at a conference in Seville a year ago at the Alfonso XIII hotel.
“The situation will neither improve nor will there be peace.” “They reached a point where there are no refunds.” “Everything is broken.” According to sources close to the two protagonists, the story behind this conflict is money, debts, betrayals, and a red white obsession: Sevilla Football Club. A sports organization facing one of its most acute crises in recent memory, teetering on the edge of the sport’s mainstream support, tired and increasingly resistant to swallowing more problems. An extraordinary board meeting this week exposed the fraught rift between father and son and highlighted the underlying institutional tensions gripping the club.
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Interest centers on the money trail. Del Nido Benavente was imprisoned in March 2014 after a conviction linked to a municipal governance scandal in Marbella. He began serving on the Marbella council alongside Jesús Gil and later became a key ally of Julián Muñoz. Sentenced to seven years for embezzlement totaling 2.7 million euros, a Supreme Court decision forced him to resign from Sevilla FC. The sequence of events appears to have started there.
While incarcerated, he handed control of his assets to his eldest son, who shared the same name and strong physical resemblance. Some observers say genetics and temperament align with the image: fierce when necessary, unexpectedly strategic, and highly capable. The son studied law and worked as a lawyer in his father’s Seville office. A challenging youth gave way to a professional focus on law and administration.
“This is a family clan”
“This isn’t a typical family; it’s a clan,” one observer notes. “The son has always been under his father’s wing.” “Dad ensures everyone eats out of his hand.” Interviews with people close to the family reveal that Del Nido wielded enormous influence over six children, three from an earlier marriage, two from a current marriage, and a third from a late partnership. “The father’s shadow is long.” The elder José María del Nido Borrego, once a Seville mayoral candidate and a leading Sevillista figure, left a legacy that deeply affected the younger generation. The son mourned his father from behind bars, while continuing to carry a family burden in Sevilla FC.
When the elder was imprisoned, he placed assets in his son’s name and handed Sevilla FC’s presidency to him. One of the main assets among others was the family stake in the club. The younger Del Nido visited daily and remained under his father’s influence. Friends describe the asset management as prudent. The son compelled his father to return funds looted from Marbella’s coffers through a complex series of loans and refinancings that complicated the family finances. Del Nido was released from a restrictive prison regime in April 2017 with a financially stable, though precarious, situation.
After the sentence concluded, the son returned all assets to his own name, triggering Treasury investigations. Tax authorities questioned a million-euro capital gain arising from the transfer of share ownership totaling 2.7 million euros. The Del Nido Carrasco name appeared among Spain’s largest debtors for months. The elder insisted the responsibility lay with the son.
“It’s a tough battle”
“From the day he was released, a tough battle began to gain access to the Sevilla presidency and confront power,” say insiders. His disqualification persisted until March 2022, yet his drive remained singular: to displace Castro as quickly as possible. The online world gave the impression of a heated, tireless struggle. If the elder had chosen a different path, he might have returned to the Sevilla presidency he ran from 2002 to 2013. The latest attempts were blocked, and the online mob amplified tensions with anonymous and aggressive posts. Critics dubbed the current board members “squatters” and accused them of theft. With the opponents pressing forward, shareholders Carolina Alés, José Castro, and José María del Nido Carrasco filed complaints about threats and incitement linked to social media activity against several accounts and against the family’s leadership.
At present, the elder Del Nido remains distant from reclaiming Sevilla’s top role. After an unsuccessful attempt to challenge the board in court, a ceasefire was signed in November 2019 in what was called a Pasta Agreement. The pact, between José Castro and another José María del Nido Carrasco on behalf of Sevillistas de Nervión SA, united Sevilla’s traditional leadership families. The agreement sets a fixed compensation for the president and a sliding fund for the vice presidents, with amounts subject to management results. The deal acknowledges the need for stability while ensuring the family retains influence over the club’s governance.
Those close to the arrangement say the goal was to protect the brand image. The younger Del Nido Carrasco is viewed as a more marketable figure than his father, a factor that influenced the family’s decisions. The elder argues that the younger has no real power without his support, while the courts have so far sided with the younger in governance disputes.
“Americans”
Why do major disputes escalate even after peace is reached? People close to Del Nido Carrasco say the son agreed to align with traditional Sevillismo to stabilize the family. The elder reportedly pressed for a deal that would keep control within the family, while the son’s supporters framed the arrangement as a step toward modernizing Sevilla FC’s ownership structure. The younger reportedly countered that any further changes should protect the club’s legacy and not simply serve personal power.
Tarık Oulida, a former Sevilla player, was later reported to face legal trouble in another case. The period after the November 2019 agreement saw written exchanges that laid out expectations for the son’s remuneration and responsibilities. Del Nido pressed for a 60-40 split for himself in the event of surplus funds, plus various personal perks tied to the presidency. The son rejected the offers and emphasized that he would not tolerate coercion or misuses of power.
Email exchange
Following an intense first meeting, the father proposed a deal via email. The proposal laid out fees and a distribution plan for any surplus and listed perks to be enjoyed by the son. The son responded calmly but firmly, rebuking his father and warning that trust had been exhausted by years of conflict. He asserted that he would not suffer further to help his father, making clear he would not be treated as a tool in ongoing power plays.
“The young man was stranded”
The conflict continued with persistent efforts by the elder to sway his son. The treasury burden remained with the son, though some relief was achieved through deferrals. The Pasta Pact contains a termination clause that could trigger a five million euro penalty if not fulfilled. The financial strain and the ongoing power struggle left Sevilla’s leadership divided and strained, with the family at the center of the turbulence.
Several observers describe the last years as a family saga rooted in competing ambitions and a shared history of political and football authority. The last known meeting between father and son occurred in a Seville restaurant near a major stadium, where a high-stakes argument about napkins and truth was described by witnesses. The elder once recounted that if told to claim a given color, he would insist on it, even when it caused a clash.
Del Nido Carrasco welcomed the arrival of his twins last August, becoming the fourth José María del Nido in the Seville saga, though the elder never witnessed the birth. The younger Del Nido Benavente now imagines a future where his sister from a later marriage becomes the club’s first woman president. For many Sevilla fans, the tale has grown exhausting, yet it remains a potent symbol of the club’s enduring, tangled legacy.