Thursday, February 18, 2010

The Catalan Cave: Edu Polo (Ona FM)

in this section, we ask catalan and spanish sports journalists five questions about the elections for president of fc barcelona. today: edu polo from catalan radio station ona fm.


1. Is it possible that Ferran Soriano joins the candidacy of Alfons Godall as number two?
Yes, it is possible, either as number two or even as number one. It's still a long way to 13 June and past elections have learnt us that a lot of deals can be closed until a few days before the vote. Soriano will have a decisive role in the elections, but it's not yet clear if he will be the number one or the star number two of the Godall candidacy. I think that we will soon hear from Ferran Soriano, although what will be said now might not be definitive since there are more than three months left and a lot of things can still happen.

2. How can it be explained that Sandro Rosell, the candidate who until now has spoken the least, is leading the polls?
Because people are already talking for many years about Sandro Rosell as a future president of Barça. And because an important part of the media have done a lot for him. It is, of course taking into account the differences, a similar case as that of Florentino last year. He did not talk, but everybody talked about him. And that way he won easily. So far Sandro's case seems pretty similar, although Rosell will have more competition than Florentino had and in the next polls Godall will certainly have risen a lot. Sandro is the big favorite, but he should be careful. Bassat also was.

3. How many candidates will be on the ballot paper on 13 June?
I think there sure will be three. Rosell, the one that heads the Godall-Soriano candidacy and Benedito. I'm not that sure about Ferrer and Guixà.

4. Joan Laporta would be re-elected if he could again take part in the elections?
It is impossible to know and it depends on factors that are still uncertain, like for example Barça winning the Champions League at the Bernabéu. But it is clear that many club members would want to keep what is working and Laporta, although he has many detractors, has a lot of charisma. He could be. One should also take into account that the electoral roll has grown a lot and that there are thousands of club members without a season-ticket, mostly young people, who have never voted and nobody knows what members with that specific profile will do.

5. Do you think it will be a tough campaign, between the candidates and/or in the media?
Everything indicates that it will be a very dirty campaign. You only have to recall the case of the detectives or Sala i Martín attacking Rosell at the presentation of Godall to foresee a tough and dirty campaign.

THE EXTRAS
As a club member of Barça, who will you vote for?

I am a member and I always vote. It does not seem right to answer, but I also first want to hear about the projects of the candidates. At this moment we hardly know anything, we only know that Godall wants to maintain the current model, but little more.

All your possessions are at stake. Give the top-3 of the elections on 13 June.
I stick to what I said about those who will arrive at the vote. 1 Rosell, 2 Godall-Soriano, 3 Benedito.

Thank you for this interview and your time. Good luck in covering the rest of the season and the elections.

read the previous episodes of this series:
francisco ávila (efe)
miquel pellicer (el mundo deportivo)