Barcelona experienced in one week a kind of summary of an entire year and with no accidental timing, just before the club presidential election. Considering that the week in Spain starts on Monday and ends on Sunday, then the week opened with Catalan police officers raiding the club offices as part of the Barça Gate affair, it continued with the arrest of the outgoing president and some former executives, passed through the team’s reversal against Sevilla on the way to the final The King’s Cup and will come to an end tomorrow night in the presidential election. So it is no coincidence that in Barcelona there is talk that starting next week everyone should open a new page.
“Barça Gate” or “Bartho Gate”
Just before we start dealing with the election itself, there was an event that could not be ignored, one that reminded everyone of the reason why the election was brought forward and the previous management, led by Joseph Maria Bartomeu, suffered a slew of criticisms that led to their resignation. Quite a few fans rejoiced last Monday when they heard that the former president, a man considered by many to be the worst president in the club’s history, was arrested following his involvement in the “Barça Gate” affair that many fans sought to change its name to “Bartho Gate” in an attempt to shake off.
The affair is problematic in many ways but mainly at the club level, beyond defaming political opponents, active players and past players, the money allegedly used by those involved in the affair is club money, money belonging to fans who actually own the team. At the end of the day the arrest and the explosion of the affair are not good news for the club, it is the name of a club that is stained again and it is something that can make it difficult for the next president even in simple things like negotiating with future sponsors. In fact, if there was no mistrust vote against Bartomeu And his friends, there was an almost inconceivable scenario of the arrest of the incumbent Barcelona president.
Election time
Barcelona is a club owned by fans and those with the right to vote are the ‘Socios’. There are about 110,000 eligible voters in the upcoming election, with the presidential election being held every 6 years and following the situation with the corona plague for the first time there will be voting by mail. About 22,000 Sociuses chose to use this method and in fact they have already voted, as the postal ballots were already collected last Friday.
The rest of the voters will reach close to 6 polling stations across Catalonia on Sunday, also for the first time in history following the situation, usually it is concentrated in one place. It is currently estimated that about 73.4% of those with the right to vote will exercise their right. It is important to remember that these elections were supposed to take place in the summer of 2021 and due to a vote of no confidence against Bartomeu and the outgoing executive in October 2020, the interim administration set an initial date for February 24, but this was postponed due to morbidity in the area for the new March 7 – Sunday. Of the winner we will know already towards midnight of that day.
The candidates
Joan Laporta The 58-year-old lawyer is best known as a former president from 2003-2008 and if Bartomeu is considered the worst president in history, quite a few people consider Laporta one of the best. He applied relatively late, but he pretty much preyed on the cards as he entered the race, his campaign “Estimem el Barça” (Love Barça) and he is considered a leading candidate at the moment. In 2003 Laporta faced a similar situation and together with a special adviser, the late Johan Cruyff, managed to rehabilitate the club, leading the team to win 12 different titles (including 4 Spanish championships and 2 Champions League trophies) with relatively anonymous coaches: Frank Rijkaard And Pep Guardiola and just as importantly built with his team the skeleton for the dynasty that current Barcelona are running on the remnants of the same team.
Victor Font The esteemed 48-year-old businessman is a relatively unknown person but he has been working on his campaign for close to 8 years. “Sí al futur” (yes to the future) is the name of the campaign he tried to deal with back in 2015, but felt immature and decided to wait for the next date. At first Font was considered a leading candidate in the current election, his remarks against Bartomeu’s management have not yet resigned and his plans for the club’s future have fascinated quite a few people. Over the last 5 years he has built a plan around the captain and one of the best connections Spain has known, Xavi Hernandez, who is set to be Barcelona’s future coach. But as soon as Joan Laporta announced his candidacy Victor Font suffered a severe blow and from the moment he saw the former president getting stronger and “leaving him dust” Font began to bump into him, which caused many fans to see Font in a negative light.
Tony Freisha – A name better known to Barcelona, the 52-year-old manager worked at the club under Laporta, Sandro Rossi and Bartomeu, is the owner of the “Fidels al Barça” campaign (loyal to Barça). In the eyes of many, Barcelona is considered the regent for the managements that we caused damage to the club, as were Rossi and Bartomeu, and such an attempt to rake in some votes with promises to purchase through money that should come from an investor, he claims. He even promised in an interview this week that he has a deal with a pair of attacking players and another defensive player in case he wins. It is no coincidence that he is considered the candidate with the lowest chances of winning.
Leo Messi
The Argentine saga was the thing that probably broke everything. After the “Borofax” affair in which he asked to leave the club and said in an interview that Bartholomew actually lied to him, it seems that even after the draconian details of the Argentine star were published, leaving him at the club is a major task. Even at the age of 33 and after opening the season stutteringly like the whole team, it seems that Messi is back to himself and alongside the goals he has returned he is the responsible adult alongside the kids growing up at the club.
It is also clear to presidential candidates how important Messi is for the future, for all but one perhaps. Tony Freisha said “Messi’s continuation should be simple if it suits both sides” which is a somewhat evasive answer but if you look at his reactions to the affair in the summer in an interview on Radio Marca, in which he accused Messi of not respecting Barcelona and that if he wanted to leave he would bring the amount In the release clause (700 million euros), it seems possible to understand his true face.
While Victor Font talks about trying to persuade Messi to stay with an ambitious project alongside his good friend Xavi as a coach, he once again came to Aporta and made it clear that he has a close relationship with Leo Messi, his family and for him if he is not selected Barça’s No. 10 will not stay in Da Club. Laporta also stated that he would submit a sensible proposal to Messi within the limits of the club’s financial problems. Such a promise, which he would not have said for nothing or without approval, gives Laporta quite a few points among voters.
Coman or the next coach
“I will try to give the maximum to Barça, I do not know if it will be two years, a year or a few months” the Dutch coach said this week when asked about his future at the press conference before the rematch against Sevilla and proved how much he is a man of the club as the symbol he is. In the shadow of talks about appointing Xavi as the next coach, he added: “It does not worry me that Xavi is being talked about, I have a contract. When we know who the next president will be, we will talk and he will determine the way.” There is no doubt that the presidential candidates must take Coman into account, despite the difficult season he is going through and the team seems to be able to integrate young people, keep the team alive in the league and cup and go know how the season will end.
While Font is building on Xavi most of his campaign, the coach who is in Qatar has actually issued a denial message and many have attacked the aspiring Font on the grounds of disrespect for the Dutch coach when he announced the next coach. Laporta refused to treat as he does with any other position at the club, a party that does not want to hurt the people currently working at the club, a move that shows how much experience the veteran president has who also understands that mid-season elections are not an ideal thing. This does not prevent us from eventually seeing Xavi as the coach at Camp Nou, the very denial best explains that if he wants to return to his youth club he should not tie his name to one candidate and whoever is considered Pep Guardiola’s successor will come to the Catalan capital in the future.
Jordy Cruyff and the hot names
In the upcoming election campaign there are some hot names, the candidates want to bring back familiar names in the system and past players and integrate them in the system and thus also attract voters. One of the most prominent names in this election campaign is ex-Maccabi Tel Aviv Jordi Cruyff. When Victor Pont presented his diagram for his professional team structure, he explained that Xavi could come in as general manager, Ronald Koeman as acting coach if left and Jordi Cruyff as professional manager. A few hours after the publication of Font’s program, both Xavi’s denials and Jordi Cruyff’s denials came out claiming that he still had a contract with his team in China that had nothing to do with this or that election campaign.
Even if Font had an oral summary or another gentlemanly summary it exploded inside him, it also became clear later when Jordi said in an interview that in his opinion his late father Johan would have voted for Laporta. The whole story received almost final approval on Tuesday night, when Uriel Domenech, a senior Catalan correspondent and considered close to the Cruyff family, announced that 95% of Jordi would be on Laporta’s professional management team alongside Matteo Elman (who was the professional manager in Valencia and highly regarded in Spain). On the day of the launch of Laporta’s sporting project there were a few more names that brought support for the former president and seem to have closed the story in this regard, names like Puyol and Victor Valdes who had previously held roles at the club will return and support the club if Laporta wins.
Purchased La from Asia
If it has not been clear by now, the situation in Barcelona is not simple. Not financially either. In a season with almost no acquisitions, Barcelona’s home players seem to be casting a shadow after various acquisition players. Oscar Mingsa turned out to be a home-defending defensive player who was often favored by names like Omititi, Langela and Dest, 18-year-old Ilash Moriva who almost made us forget that there is a player like Pjanic on the roster and if not Enso Patti’s injury he would probably play more . But what about future procurement? There is no escape, even if there is no money Barcelona needs to get stronger to try to stay relevant in the coming years and the presidential candidates need to respond.
While Tony Freisha, as described earlier, is sure to get investors to give him sums to run and acquire senior players as early as this summer, Victor Font talks about not having high expectations for the acquisition, as the successful businessman who Font understands the financial situation will not make it easy in the near future. Although that did not stop him from insisting on the last days of the January transfer window to sign Eric Garcia, he tried to take advantage of his good connections at Manchester City to get a good deal, but Barcelona still had to pay for a player to arrive for free in the summer and that was the final decision.
Laporta is actually trying to explain that the picture is not as difficult as it seems and he believes he will succeed in convincing the banks to postpone the short-term debts that will give Barça more breathing space. Laporta also likes to mention his many connections with the super agents across the continent he gained during his first tenure, in fact claiming that already five agents have approached him and mentioning quite a bit of Mino Raiola and not by chance.
If Killian Ambape is the name expected of bitter rival Real Madrid, Barcelona fans have more hope that a player like Arling Brut Holland could be the next star at the Camp Nou and the relationship between Laporta and his agent Mino Raiola makes people in Barcelona dream. Whether it’s a dream or securing an almost impossible election, it seems like it’s not going to be easy and Barcelona will have to combine home players, selling older players and more realistic purchasing options.
Summary
The upcoming elections in Barcelona are marking the opening of a new page, after everything the club has gone through in recent years whether on the pitch and humiliations in the Champions League, whether off the pitches in scandals in club offices and on social media where the team has become a joke among sports fans. Barcelona will elect a new president on Sunday and together with him it hopes to embark on a new path with all the doubts, the difficult economic situation and what will happen with the future of the best player in the history of the club, Messi. What is certain is that even if they seek peace in the near future, it is not going to be calm in the vicinity of the Camp Nou.