During the last couple of years F.C Barcelona has been on the news, both for issues related to sports and matters which have nothing to do with any sport. Two years ago most of the sections (football, basketball, handball, etc) were not doing very well; and that was concerning many people. Last year the football team achieved the wonderful ``TRIPLETE´´ and the basketball team obtained the double (league, and cup). Some other teams are doing better and working in the right direction. This is a natural thing. Teams go through ups and downs. You cannot win every year and that is part of this business.
What has been constant is the quantity of trouble generated inside the club from its own directors and of course its president. Let´s go back a few years to understand the whole situation. When president Laporta was elected in 2003 he came with a new crew of vice presidents and other executives. According to him they were all very loyal and very important in his project. Two men had more importance than the rest : Sandro Rosell, and Ferran Soriano. Rosell was the sports vice president and he played a key role in signing Ronaldinho and Deco. His contacts and his knowledge of the South American market were very important for the club. Soriano was the economics vice president. He managed to put the club back in a profitable position, generating great profits; and all obtained thanks to some of his innovative marketing strategies. Surprisingly, these two characters and many other important executives are no longer part of the current board. Apparently the liberal and consensual Joan Laporta changed into a bit more dictatorial president, whowith the fame obtained after winning two leagues and one Champions League (including a double) twisted his habits. Many members of the board disagreed with his new policies and most of the initial crew is no longer there. Maybe an accidental casualty? But the reality is the club started to fall apart. Internal problems, difficulties dealing with the players, all kind of things started to happen.
Laporta started very well in 2003. He was an interesting character who proposed new ways to bring the club back where it belonged. Sometimes he showed his ``catalanism´´, but not to a big extent. He started getting rid of the radical supporters. His zero tolerance worked very well and the whole country admired him for that. But after a couple of years, when he was feeling powerful, he started to involve himself in areas where the president of a big club such as Barcelona should not get involved. He continuously declared his political views (independency for Cataluña as another country), and constantly important members of the board were leaving their charges. Half of the country did not like him, and half of the Catalunians did not either. But the worst moment for him was in Summer 2008 when the stockholders tried to get rid of him even out of an electoral process. There is a legal way to do that if more than 66% of the club affiliates vote for it. People vote and a very impressive 60.60% voted against the current president. It was not enough but the message was out there. People do not like him anymore.
Since then, F.C Barcelona seems more like the White House than a football club. Next summer there are elections for a new president. Laporta cannot present himself again but he is preparing a few candidates who will follow his tendency and obviously will provide him a good spot in the highest circles of the club. The last scandal was raised when some Spanish media found out that the club was actually spying on 4 of the current vice presidents (some of them could present themselves as candidates in the summer). Laporta said that he had nothing to do with that, and executive vice president Oliver claimed that it was necessary for the club to obtain information of potential club presidents. He keeps using his position as the president of one of the biggest clubs in the world to expand his political views. He is making strides in politics at the club´s expenses. Some people are starting to identify the whole structure as Laporta´s stepping stone. That is not true. Barça supporters only want the club to do well, mostly concern with the football team. Laporta is very lucky that Guardiola is there (by the way Laporta wanted Mourinho for that position). Hopefully all this will be over in the summer and everyone will talk just about Messi, Xavi, or Ricky Rubio (basketball star). The next president, hopefully Rosell, must be focused in sports and the club´s good image.
Posted by Nando
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