BarcelonaOne of Joan Laporta’s first objectives, when he first took up the presidency of Barça, was to revalue the Joan Gamper trophy. The competition that Barça organizes in honor of its founder had been quite prestigious in the 70s and 80s, but had fallen into decline in the 90s, mainly because of the rivals it invited, which could not be compared to Bayern, Milan or Ajax that had come in other editions.
In 2003, the opponent was Boca Juniors, a media team that was more competitive than competitive, taking into account the difference in level between the European and South American leagues. In any case, it was a team that was already paired before Laporta took over. But from 2004 onwards the opponents were much juicier like Juventus. Rival, for example, who saw live in 2005 the exhibition of a very young Leo Messi. “The most important thing about the Gamper is to offer a first-class match that serves as a claim for the member and allows the Camp Nou to be filled”, said Ferran Soriano at the time, when he was Barça’s economic vice president. The policy of always looking for the best ended – apart from some exceptions such as Arsenal, in 2019, in which attendance and turnover records were broken – with the change of presidency. Laporta reinstated it when he won the elections again, in 2021.
Roma were wiped out from the Gamper at the last minute
For this reason, this season’s Barça-Pumas represents a radical change in the board’s philosophy. But the Mexican rival was not supposed to be the guest of this Gamper. The club had already agreed with Roma to participate in the Blaugrana trophy… until it backed out at the last minute. And so, as a result, it was necessary to find an alternative. Since the big Europeans had already defined the pre-season, it was necessary to look towards Central America. “It’s been a problem because one of Gamper’s goals was to fill the stadium and get a good turnover, playing the men’s and women’s teams. We had to change plans. We have a lot of respect for the Pumas and we thank them for come, but it’s clear that it’s not the same at the media level,” a board member admits to the ARA.
In any case, the Pumas have an incentive: Dani Alves. The Brazilian defender, who ended his second spell at Barça in June, signed up for the Mexican team in order to get in shape for the World Cup in Qatar, where he aspires to be one of the full-backs selected by the canarinha. In addition, it will serve for Alves to say goodbye to the Camp Nou, which he could not do when the season ended because he still did not know if he would renew or not.
On the other hand, the main incentive of the Gamper is the presentation of the first men’s team. After Lewandowski was already received at the Camp Nou with all the honors on Friday, this time they will set foot in their new stadium for the first time – the other presentations had been made in the Ciutat Esportiva – Kessie, Christensen, Raphinha and Kounde. However, the discarded Braithwaite and Neto, with whom the club is negotiating the exit, will not be there.
Nasser al-Khelaifi’s boycott of Gamper
Barça decided, last season, that the women’s team would be added to the Gamper and two games would be played at Camp Nou. Then it had to be canceled due to the pandemic and this time the same has happened due to Roma’s retreat. “It is not easy to find a first-level European team, with a men’s and women’s team, who can both come on the same day. We hope that the third will be the winner”, they add from the box office, where the emphasis is on give the women’s team, who will play the Gamper at Johan Cruyff again this year, more opportunities to play in a packed Camp Nou. Everything will depend on Barça’s power of seduction and also external interference. And it is, as published by the Italian newspaper The Republicthis season’s Gamper went down the drain because of a boycott organized by the president of Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser al-Khelaifi, who used his influence as the top leader of the European Football Association Clubs (ECA) to put sticks in the wheels of Barça, one of the three teams that keeps the flame of the Superliga alive.
According to the Italian rotator, Al-Khelaifi pressured Dan Friedkin, the owner of Roma, to cancel his commitment to go and play the friendly trophy against the Barça team. The top leader of the Italian club maintains a good relationship with the Qatari president of PSG and, for a year, he has been part of the board of directors of the ECA, led by Al-Khelaifi. That’s why Friedkin acceded to requests to resign from the Gamper and position himself next to the Qatari leader in his active opposition against the defenders of the Superliga. Roma, therefore, instead of playing at the Camp Nou, will play a friendly against Shakhtar Donetsk this Sunday at their stadium.
