On the 23rd of December 2019, the management board of Real Garcilaso finally issued a press release, basically stating that the name of the club changes to "Cusco Fútbol Club". According to this document, the change was triggered by the fans, and a poll performed in Cusco showed that 70% of the fans agree to the change.
In reality, for several weeks, the club managers have tried to convince the fans that the change of the name is good, while most of the fans opposed it and wanted the club to continue as "Real Garcilaso", as one could see on social media. The poll was performed in Cusco but it did not look as it was specifically targeted to Real Garcilaso fans, but to anyone out there who had an opinion (or not). The results of the poll are questionable but indeed they mean nothing, if the club owners wanted to change the name of the club and to have some sort of "support" for this decision.
The situation was most likely triggered by the good performance of the other "Garcilaso" club in Cusco, Deportivo Garcilaso, in 2019. They were just one step away from reaching the Final Four of the Copa Peru in 2019, losing to Deportivo Llacuabamba in the quarter-finals. If Deportivo Garcilaso reached the Final Four, they could have promoted directly to the Peruvian First Division, therefore potentially playing in the same league as Real Garcilaso. Deportivo Garcilaso is the older and more traditional club, and is officially supported by the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega College. Their fans turned against Real Garcilaso, especially because of the use of the name "Garcilaso", as well as other identity issues like the club colours (the same sky blue / celeste) and crest (the same large upper case G letter in the centre of the crest).
While these identity issues have existed since the creation of Real Garcilaso in 2009, they reached a momentum at the end of 2019, and Real Garcilaso owners therefore decided to change the club name and to create a different identity for the club, centred on the name of the city and of the region, Cusco (sometimes also spelled as Cuzco), which is well known throughout the world, but it has not been officially carried by any of the traditional football teams in the city (Cienciano or Deportivo Garcilaso).
It is hoped that the existing fans would gradually accept the new name (for now, the reactions are rather mixed) and more fans would be gained for the team. The local authorities seem happy with the change and were most likely consulted in advance. The new name, Cusco FC, similar to other names which exist in Peru and throughout the world, like Ayacucho FC or Liverpool FC, has been announced only today after several weeks of debates, in which several options for the new name have been put forward.
It is expected that the club colours would also change, although a sort of blue will surely remain as the main colour or one of the colours. It is also certain that there will be a new crest of the club.
All these issues regarding the change of the name have left their mark on club transfers. While most other clubs in the Peruvian First Division have started and even almost finished the transfers, most of the players of former Real Garcilaso have already left, and no new transfers have been announced. The only certainty is the name of the head coach, Javier Arce. Hopefully, from now on, the club would focus on preparing the 2020 season. The Peruvian First Division will start at the end of January and the Copa Sudamericana in February. New players are needed quickly, as preparations for the new season are set to begin in the first days of January.
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