Waiting to see if the vote of censure against Josep Maria Bartomeu is made on the scheduled days (November 1 and 2), the pre-candidate for the presidency of Barça Víctor Font offers ARA sketches of his project, Sí al Future, in which he has been working for seven years. Also, of course, take the opportunity to comment on the classic.
We imagine he saw yesterday’s game.
It is unfortunate to see that the VAR looks like version 2.0 of the Moviola or the Guruceta scandal. Institutional respect has been lost. When we explain the project it is also to have an impact on the institutions and not to make fun of us. That of the VAR is a disaster.
Beyond the controversy, how do you rate the classic?
Koeman was brave enough to bet on young talent, but his reading of the match was amazing. And after all a portrait of how we are as a club. It is not enough to change the coach. We manage the decline of the 2003 project and make new fire as soon as possible.
After a motion of censure? Do you think that the Generalitat will grant the 15-day extension requested by the club to continue postponing the vote?
This tactic of delaying the vote will surely take effect. But sooner or later we will vote.
Therefore, it is assumed that the board will end up coming out with theirs.
So far they have succeeded. I can’t imagine politicians imposing their judgment and judging everything. In fact, if we went to court, everything would stop, which is what the board is looking for, as with the complaint of the Civil Guard.
Can you imagine the board resigning before the referendum?
I do not rule out that when we are close to the vote they will step aside and make things easier, avoiding having to vote in these conditions.
Can you understand why they don’t fold? Are they hiding something?
Something they must want to hide or they must need to do. But it’s hard to hide anything, because in the end a new board will come. And if we are we will do a top-down audit to transparently explain to members the reality of the club.
Are you worried about Barça’s debt?
We are above 800 million.
And now player contracts are being deferred. Can this backpack jeopardize your plans?
It jeopardizes the ownership model and the ability to continue to compete at the highest level. That’s why in 2013 we launched Yes to the Future. We made that diagnosis then and now we have solutions to reverse this crisis, to be able to start the Espai Barça and reform the staff.
Do you think that Goldmans Sachs credit is more for paying salaries than for Espai Barça?
As Barça have liquidity problems, it could be that this credit was going in that direction, but we have not been told. If we enter the club, the first thing we should do is understand the terms of the agreement, which from the outside seems to be improveable.
Does your pre-candidacy already have the 118 million needed for endorsements?
No, but we know how to get them by reaching agreements with financial institutions.
Are you concerned that sport and football have archaic laws that do not allow for easy changes, such as electronic voting or endorsements?
To secure the ownership model we need to transform the management model. Bringing the club into the 21st century. Today, Barça is managed as in the days of Montal or Núñez.
Does the current scenario draw a Font-Laporta face to face in the elections?
I am concerned that even today the pre-candidacies are not ready. I think that a project to preside over Barça should look like an Olympic candidacy, which has been working for many years.
There are other partners, such as Benedito, Farré, Fernández Alà or Freixa … But how do you fight Laporta, who already has his own experience? to name ?
The ismes they can help us to understand each other, to know where we are. But with the ismes and nostalgia will not make Espai Barça or renew Messi.
Do you think the pandemic has gone against the partners who were thinking of taking the plunge?
For sure. Of those who understood that to win elections you did not need to have a project and wanted to decide a few months before the election.
The million dollar question: if he wins will he lift carpets?
If the audit concludes that punishable actions have taken place, we will defend the interests of the club. Maybe not with a liability action against the entire board, as many executives are unaware of things happening.
Could it be the case that the club, investigated within the Barçagate, also becomes an accusation with a new board to demand responsibilities?
A number of people are responsible for this case. And they continue to work at the club, which is reportable.
After the 2-8 he said that his bet on the bench would be Xavi Hernández. He has now moderated the speech saying that it will be Xavi who will decide what happens to Koeman. Because?
I appreciate the question, let me clarify. I didn’t moderate the speech, it’s just that I wasn’t right in the way I explained myself. What I wanted to say is that it makes sense to set up a system in which all the parts of the gear work, clarifying that Xavi, together with the sports management and the technical secretariat, will make the decisions. After that interview I talked to him and we felt that if it made sense, Koeman could continue as coach. And that by the time he stopped being so, he would replace him.
Piqué said to The vanguard that Iniesta or Puyol should return to the club.
We need to understand what capabilities are behind the myths. Through Xavi we also have conversations with Guardiola or Valdés, but we don’t want to recruit names without them doing an efficient job.
Do you think this happened to Abidal?
I have direct information on how this board has looked for patches in the face of the lack of project. Messi said it in the summer and Piqué said it this week.
Speaking of Messi, would retaining him be one of his first goals?
Without any doubt. Gathering and bringing together all possible talent we will not only compete, but we will play in a way that will make us feel proud, with people from home. To imagine Xavi giving instructions from the bench, people in the market like Puyol or Iniesta, each with a well-defined responsibility, is exciting.
Had Eric García signed?
I know that Eric García feels the colors of the club and is excited to return to Barça. In addition, it is central. It is a strategic signing.
How do you see the future of the sections?
It is essential that the new management model also serves to strengthen the sections. We believe that the multisport character of the entity is a differentiating feature. On the other hand, what has been done with women’s football has been a success, but we also want to strengthen it. We will promote a purely female section that we will explain in due course.
We are of letters. Barça is the biggest club in the world, the first to announce revenue of 1 billion, but you maintain that it operates as a medium-sized company. Can you tell us?
There are 70 companies in Catalonia that have a higher turnover than Barça, which is a brand with global potential. Something is wrong. And it’s not a matter for Barça, but for clubs in general. And the reason is the lack of professionalism. Intermediaries that take away part of the value must be eliminated and be able to sell products and services to millions and millions of fans around the world.
There are members who are beginning to accept that Espai Barça will not be able to do it.
We will have to go in the medium or long term, no doubt. However, the club has enough potential to develop the project, adjusting it to these new deadlines. For example, the Palau has a much greater urgency than the Camp Nou, when I heard the president say otherwise.
Once he has announced his intention to go to the polls, are you surprised by the information about the supporters he says he has behind him? Puigdemont, Roures, the ANC …
It may come as a surprise that there is a partner from Granollers, a middle-class son without a very relevant surname who wants to promote a project that has some credibility. However, there are associations that have no foundation. If news comes out about a real fact, as I am a shareholder of ARA, I can come to understand it, but to be said to be the man from Roures, when I greeted him twice, makes no sense. Or that the ANC is behind me when I know of no charge from that association.
You say so. Will he sell the shares of ARA if he is president of Barça?
That is the goal. But not because there is a conflict. In fact, I am a shareholder in ARA thanks to Barça. In 2010, after the elections at the club, I became interested in the operation of private media groups and Antoni Bassas, a personal friend, explained to me that the ARA project was being born. I read the founding manifesto, which says shareholders pledge not to interfere in editorial content, and decided to participate in a newspaper that could help improve the country’s democratic quality. If you see the treatment that ARA has done of Víctor Font and of Sí al Futur, I think that those of The vanguard. That’s why I don’t think there are any conflicts, but I’m looking with the council at how I can detach myself from the project in case this from Barça goes ahead.
Does Barça have to be Catalan?
This is indicated by the founding roots of the club. It is not an opinable subject. Perhaps in recent years he may have reacted more forcefully at times, but it is also true that President Rosell says he has suffered retaliation for leaving the Camp Nou for the Concert de la Llibertat or the Via Catalana. Barça must be a country, but not a political one.
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