FC Barcelona’s pre-election campaign seems to be starting. Last Tuesday, president Joan Laporta called a press conference. He expressed pride in the club’s path – both socially, economically and sportingly – and rejected those “catastrophic proclamations” from the opposition. “We have made a common front to face the attacks that came from all sides. (…) We are stronger than ever, we feel determined to complete the recovery of Barça,” said the Barça president at the time. But this Tuesday, Víctor Font appeared, a candidate in those Barça elections in 2021 in which Laporta rose to become president, and in which Font came second with 29.99% of the votes. And his message under the leadership of the project Yes to the futurewas very different, describing Laporta’s management as “disappointing” and calling for the elections to be brought forward to the summer of 2025, a year earlier than planned. “We are not taking advantage of all the potential that Barça has. We are not catastrophists, we are super optimistic if we do things well. But we have to do things well to take advantage of the potential,” Font said at a press conference.
“It is the most disappointing and frustrating thing I can remember in the club’s institutional life, which is no small thing. (…) There is no plan, and therefore they improvise,” the former candidate continued forcefully, although for the moment he rules out a motion of censure. And he stated, directly, that the “management errors” lead to “a propagandistic story full of inconsistencies, unreality, promises that are not kept, half-truths and even lies. If we members can demand something it is that the truth is explained to us.” And he exemplified this with the case of the signing of Nico Williams that never happened — “They deceived us. At first Laporta talked about him and then, at the end, he didn’t want to talk about names. When I said at that time that we couldn’t, they didn’t believe me” — or the farewell of Ilkay Gündogan, justified by Laporta as a sporting issue, with economic consequences, and which Font points out “is not like that.” “Why do we deceive? They said that Flick already wanted João Félix at Bayern, but neither of the Joãos have been retained,” he added.
He also does not believe that Barcelona will find a way out of the financial tunnel —”we cannot say that the club is financially saved if we do not manage to resolve the Barça Studios scandal and demonstrate that it has the capacity to generate profits to repay the debt”— nor does he consider that at a sporting level it is enough —”it is not enough to win a league from time to time, sustained results in the medium term are achieved if things are done well”—. And, in addition, he thinks that the registrations this summer were possible due to “exceptions to the rule” of the fair play from LaLiga. “If Christensen and Araujo hadn’t been injured, where would we have Olmo and Iñigo? And on top of that they say we’re not at 1:1 because we don’t want to. It’s incredible,” Font said.
The buzz for the elections has long since begun. And it is no coincidence that this November the celebrations for the 125th anniversary of the club will begin, and that – according to the timings According to the club, fans can return, in part, to the new Spotify Camp Nou at the end of the year. Critical groups with Laporta’s management have begun to come to light in recent months, creating spaces for debate on the situation at Barça and possible solutions.
On the one hand, the opinion platform Barça addswith Ricard Font as spokesperson, and which will organize a forum at the end of June next year under the motto Barça Futurewith various conferences and debates. “Barça adds It is not a candidacy. It is a platform that aims to be an open space for participation by the club’s members and fans. (…) That does not mean that the people sitting here cannot be candidates for the elections,” he said in July. A few weeks earlier, Marc Ciria, a financier and businessman, offered a press conference on economic solutions. “The club’s management model has been exhausted since 2015. You see it in the best companies. This is not a candidacy. Talking about elections or motions now does not help. We must provide stability. Barcelona experts must get to work to add up,” he said then. This coming Thursday he will speak again, this time, about digital solutions for the club.
And after Laporta’s last public appearance on September 3, Joan Camprubí, leader of the platform We are a clamcriticised the statements of the current president: “We were told that everything was fixed and now it has been seen that the 1:1 rule has not been met. Let us face reality and implement solutions to maintain the ownership and pride of the members. Enough of kicking the ball forward just to gain time after good results.”
The possible sources of opposition against Laporta are taking shape. Víctor Font is the most forceful. “The last time I met the president was this summer at a funeral home. He was not happy that I greeted him. We have been at the club’s disposal since day one. The relationship should be cordial and we should all work together. The rival is in Madrid, in Manchester and in other places. Laporta is being left alone,” Font concluded his appearance. The pressure on Laporta is starting to grow.
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