Jordi Llauradó, the manager of Espai Barça, says after the award of the works for the new Camp Nou

Although the official argument for Llauradó’s decision is based on labor reasons (he is the founder of the construction company MET, among other businesses), the bidding process for the Camp Nou reform works has also played a role in this. The person in charge of Espai Barça until now, with decades of experience in the sector, was in favor of the comprehensive reform of Camp Nou being carried out by one of the two Spanish proposals that were on the table: on the one hand, the alliance formed by Ferrovial and Acciona and, on the other, FCC. Vinci, the French construction giant, pulled out of the competition at the last minute. However, and as explained on Monday by the institutional vice-president and spokeswoman for the entity, Maria Elena Fort, the manager abstained from voting “for professional ethics and to avoid suspicion”. The voice did use it, but the result of the tender has not corresponded with your criterion.

Lots to do beyond adjudication

If there are no new developments in the coming days, Llauradó will remain on the board, which has not suffered a resignation since that of Jaume Giró, who fell from the government after the elections and before taking office. What Laporta will have to consider is if he appoints another specific manager of Espai Barça, who, despite the construction company’s announcement that it will build the new Camp Nou, still has to go through crucial chapters for its achievement : the signing of the financing with Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan for a maximum value of 1.5 billion euros and the granting of the final building permit by Barcelona City Council. So far, the only thing that has been done to the stadium is the partial demolition of the third bleacher in the south goal during the recent shutdown due to the World Cup in Qatar. This fact causes the Blaugrana venue to lose more than 3,000 capacity seats until the end of the season, when the first football team will have to go to Montjuïc to play their official matches.