BarcelonaThe arrival of Joan Laporta as president of Barça in March 2021 led to changes in the club’s internal structure. It’s not strange at all. Each new president, together with the management team, chooses his trusted people who must help him run the organization’s day-to-day operations. Although, in this case, the amount of ups and downs has been very large. As the ARA explained, in the first months about eighty people were added and another eighty were dismissed.
But the massive changes didn’t end there. Barça’s communications department, which a year ago already lost Josep Vives, who was also dismissed, has suffered a shake-up this October. After the farewell of José Manuel Lázaro, whom the club dismissed last week, three dismissals were made this Friday: that of Toni Ruiz, that of Ketty Calatayud and that of David Saura.
They are four historic names in the Barcelona communication department. Especially Toni Ruiz, who had been working at Barça for 26 years. Ruiz joined the club at the age of 22, when Josep Lluís Núñez was the president. Under the tutelage of Ricard Maxenchs, historical head of communication for the former president, Ruiz held different positions, from the support department to that of head of communication. Always, however, acting as a link between the club and the media.
The decision has surprised outside the walls of the Camp Nou, and especially in the media. But, as the organization assures, the decision “had to come sooner or later”. In fact, explain the people who know Ruiz, he himself already expected that this day would eventually arrive. Ruiz, Calatayud and Saura were called to the office in the morning, where they were informed of the dismissal. A fact that, according to Barça, the president has taken together with his hardest core and had not previously been communicated to any other member of the organization.
These are changes, according to club sources, which are part of the restructuring of the communication department, where Joan Maria Piqué was supposed to work. But the one who was head of press for the former president of the Generalitat Artur Mas was ultimately left without joining Barça. Piqué had announced his entry to fill the vacant position of Sandra Hors, in charge of international communication that Arístides Maillol left to accept another job offer, but at the last minute president Laporta backed out.
Toni Ruiz, David Saura, Ketty Calatayud and José Manuel Lázaro
Ruiz’s departure was the trigger for David Saura to also leave, who had also been linked to Barça for almost a quarter of a century (24 years). Saura was, for many years, in charge of Barça’s digital media. He was removed from this position last year, shortly after Laporta won the elections, and until now he had been in charge of corporate communication, where he was head of projects.
On the other hand, Ketty Calatayud had arrived at the club in 2011 from the hand of Sandro Rosell. The former president hired her to serve as communications director. However, when she had not completed a year in office, she was relieved by Xavi Martín. Calatayud, however, had stayed on the communications team as head of the magazine Barça.
These three names are added to that of Lázaro, a former Cadena SER journalist who was hired by Barça in 2004, a year after Laporta won the elections for the first time. Lázaro was mainly linked to the first team and in 2017, with Bartomeu in the box, he was appointed responsible for the professional sports of the entity.
