The assembly of Barcelona members changed the focus. Most of the commissioners forgot that Barça registered a negative operating result for the fifth consecutive year – that is, the club’s ordinary business is still in the red: without the sale of assets for 800 million it would be impossible to understand the net profit of 304 million —. They also forgot about the club’s large debt, estimated at 1.2 billion, to which another 1.5 billion must be added for the construction of the new stadium. “A slab,” according to Eduard Romeu, economic vice president of the Barça entity. The gaze of the delegates was placed on the Negreira case and in the new stellar phrase in Barcelona fans: “sociological Madridismo”.
Joan Laporta feels comfortable on stage, oratory is his moment, much more so with the audience. In an opening speech that lasted more than 40 minutes, he spent about 25% of the time talking about the Negreira case. “The history of Barça does not get dirty. “We suffered the most ferocious attack on the image and reputation of the club,” he claimed. And the members, who did not appear en masse, initially 417 delegates out of a total of 4,451, surrendered before the Board and approved all points of the day, the balance of the last campaign, the budget for the 2023-2024 course and the agreement of sponsorship with Ambilight TV.
The generator of the Negreira case has been Barcelona: the club paid more than seven million euros to the former vice president of referees over 18 years. However, Laporta points to Madrid to point out an instrumentalization of the case. “When you go to Madrid a lot, and I have gone for work, you realize that there is a sociological Madridismo embedded in the centers of power. In the political, in the economic and also the sporting. Look who runs all the sporting establishments,” he started. And he continued: “They didn’t have a good time in my previous stage. Imagine how they feel when the years go by and they already had us cushioned, and they see that there is a new Barça, with the same president who made them suffer so much, that the coach is Xavi, who was then one of the captains and that grassroots football He brings out players again: Araújo, Gavi, Balde, Lamine… They draw parallels with that time.” The president was as convinced that Barcelona will end up “acquitted” in the Negreira case, as well as that “the best Barça in history will be repeated” under his new mandate. Laporta pointed to the past to vindicate himself, also to remember the club that he inherited from Josep Maria Bartomeu: “We saved the club from tragedy.”
There was not much room for disagreement in the assembly. It happened, for example, that when one of the commissioners questioned Barcelona’s ability to repay the large debt, Jordi Masip, a member of the sports commission and deputy to the presidency, asked for it to be cut. “It is time to close ranks and you have put a brake on the wheels,” Laporta replied to the partner. And the economic vice president, Romeu, explained: “The new stadium has a life of its own and is a debt without resources of the club, it will be paid with the operating income of Espai Barça itself, which is necessary to reduce the debt. We have never hidden the 1.2 billion debt.”
However, the board has not clearly detailed how it plans to reduce its obligations with third parties, in a context in which the club has budgeted a net profit of eight million in the 2023-2024 campaign, after estimating income at 859 million (32% less than the previous season in which he used the levers) and expenses of 832 million (29% lower than last year). “This is the important point. It has been achieved despite going to Montjuïc, which implies a reduction in income and a reduction in sports salaries and ordinary expenses,” Laporta explained.
Although it paid commissions of 11.6 million to player agents, the club has managed to stabilize the wage bill, its handicap in recent seasons. For the 2023-2024 season, Barça plans to pay 492 million between salaries and amortizations of the first team, 57% of income. It would be placed, in this way, within the limits advised by UEFA. “We are very happy with the squad. Despite the difficulties, we are always trying to be at the best level. We cannot give up competing at the highest level,” said Deco, football director of Barcelona, which today hosts Athletic in Montjuïc (9:00 p.m., Dazn).
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