Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has defended a redesign of the club's badge, while saying that for him winning Monday's La Liga game at Villarreal was more important than such debates over tradition or change.
Atletico last week announced that the club's crest was being changed, with the image simplified and made to look more modern -- just as the club are moving next year from their current Estadio Vicente Calderon ground to a new stadium which will be called the Wanda Metropolitano.
The rebranding of the club has not been popular with all Atletico fans, with some complaining that the iconic bear was now being made to face in a different direction, and others unhappy at the lack of consultation with fans groups about the change. There were even reportedly chants of 'hands off the badge" at the Calderon on Sunday, as Atletico's women's team beat Barcelona 2-1.
But first-team coach Simeone told a news conference that many clubs made such changes and for him such matters were less important than what happens on the pitch.
Discover how the badge from 1903 is very present in the evolution we will have next season
➡️ https://t.co/w81UPeJ0NZ #HistoryAndFuture pic.twitter.com/281nO1i5HR- Atleti English (@atletienglish) December 9, 2016
"In the world such change is always happening," Simeone said. "We have seen many clubs in the past in the same situation. When there are changes there will always be people who like it and people who don't.
"It is normal for some people to resist as we are used to what we have always had. But for us we have to focus on tomorrow's game."
The controversy was addressed in an interview in AS with Bruno Selles, creative director of the Vasava agency who Atletico contracted for the redesign. Asked about complaints from some fans that what had been a heraldic crest was now more like a corporate logo, Selles said that the old crest designed 47 years ago had to be modernised to better fit with modern communication techniques.
"It was realised that the club had to modernise their image and fit it to the current moment," Selles said. "We worked with the club's marketing department, always respecting the historic legacy of the club, its badge and its symbols. The majority of club badges come from a heraldic tradition.
"What you always look for is to simplify it without losing its essence. So that it fits with modern times and new communication paradigms. For example, if you want a Twitter avatar, you need an image which fits better within such a small space."
The lavish ceremony announcing Atletico's stadium move and new club badge last Friday leaned heavily on nostalgia around the incorporation of its old stadium's Metropolitano name within its new ground, but gave few details of the strengthened commercial relationship with Chinese sponsors Wanda Group.
Marca have claimed that Wanda will pay at least €100 million over 10 years to have their name attached to Atletico's new ground, with this coming despite UEFA rules mandating that the stadium be referred to as solely the Metropolitano for Champions League fixtures.