Barcelona presidential candidate Jaume Guixà gave an interview to Catalan local television station Teletaxi TV.Which reports do you have on the economic situation of the club? There isn't a lot of talk about this topic...
Others may not talk a lot, but we do talk about it. One of the events we organized was at a business school and we had a seminar with a professor at the University of Barcelona where we discussed the issue. At this moment I don't know which are the real accounts of FC Barcelona or what the real deficit is. We think that when Ferran Soriano was still on the board, the members who vote at the general assembly received the information early and had enough time to analyze things before the assembly. Today, some of the members receive the information the day before or the same day of the assembly. This already generates some doubts and shows that this closeness to the members that the 'Elefant Blau' wanted is not happening. We are very concerned with the possible economic situation of the club and one of the first things we will do is to find out what the numbers are, because we do not believe the current ones.
Can you assure that you won't join any other candidate if you would get a proposal?
We have made this clear from the beginning. We are a clear alternative for the laportism and that is our seal of guarantee. We have a project for a different Barça that brings the club closer to the member who should in a way be involved in the decisions. We open our arms to anyone who wants to join our candidacy but always with the condition that the candidacy is led by Jaume Guixà.
Some think you are looking for a position in the club taking into account the few options that you seem to have.
I don't know where you get that I would have few options because in the poll that came out on 2 December, the day I officially presented my candidacy, Jaume Ferrer not even appeared while he has been part of the board of directors since 2003. We have the example of 2003 where a candidate had 80% of the votes in the polls and in the end he did not win the presidency, so you cannot trust the polls too much. We are working in a serious way, with modesty and close to the member, and that gives us the possibility to pass the cut of the signatures and then to fully be able to show our project.
What type of social, political and economic support does Jaume Guixà get from the Catalan civil society?
Firstly, this is a personal desire of a Barcelona fan, who has the club in his blood. I like Barça, I am president of a fan club that organizes social, solidary and artistic events. But there is more. I have the support of the granddaughter of the founder, Emma Gamper, who has Barça blood because of her origins. She had confidence in me and I asked her to be part of my candidacy. She thought I was reliable and she joined us. I have a former member of the board of José Luis Núñez, Jaume Sobrequés, the former director of the Museum of History of Catalonia and the Museum of Barça. I was asking him advice and later I asked him to join the candidacy and he did so. I have also in my team the writer and historian who has written more books about the club than anyone, Mercé Morales, and the boy who came out with the team in the first match played at the Camp Nou, Joan Segarra, the son of the 'Great Captain'. With those people, plus others that were already with me in 2006, we can build a project that makes the member enthusiast because he can feel involved and participate.
What political party could be interested in Jaume Guixà becoming the president of FC Barcelona?
Barça should not get involved in politics. I have already publicly stated that the president of Barça should not do politics, and in that sense I sent a letter to Laporta when he launched his website saying that if he wanted to get into politics that I encouraged him and that he had every right in the world to do so, but that the citizen Laporta should be separated from the president of Barça. I'm not a member of nor have I ever been a member of any political party, but of course I have my way of thinking about the society which decides who I vote for in the elections.
Is it an indiscretion to ask you who you are voting for?
Yes, because there's no need to know for which party the president of Barça is voting. The presidency of Barça is open to all kinds of ideologies, which seems to be difficult currently. What I want is that the president of Barça represents the institution and welcomes everyone because that is what our club is about.
Which budget do you have to try to become the president of Barça?
Our candidacy will adapt to the planning of the elections. There are a number of uncertainties but with the experience that I have after the camapign of 2006 we are able to adapt our budget, to which the people of our candidacy make a contribution.
Will you be able to deposit the bank guarantee if you pass the cut of the signatures?
Obviously. That was already clear to us in 2006. What we have done is to continue working with the project of 2006 and with everything we've learned, and one of those issues is the bank guarantee. Said that, I think it would be worthwile to change the condition of the guarantees because I don't think it's democratic that a great number of members of Barcelona cannot take part in the elections because they are limited by the bank guarantee. That is impoverishing the electoral process itself. I think there are many great Barcelona fans which could contribute with their presence in the election campaign but the guarantee is blocking them. If I get elected as president we will lower the bar for the members to participate in the democratic process of the elections.
If you are elected as president will you let the general assembly ratify the appointment of Johan Cruyff as honorary president of the club?
First I would like to say that this shouldn't be an issue right now. Nobody questions the value and the qualities of Johan Cruyff as a player and as coach, but there's no need to take such decisions two months before the elections. I think the assembly has to approve it so there's no more discussion about the timing of his appointment.
What do you know about the possible candidacy formed by a group of Barcelona supporters among which is José María Minguella?
I know that there was a brief report in a sports paper recently. I know that they first would be led by a former director of the newspaper 'Avui', then by a lawyer and now they speak of a businessman.
Why do you think all this happens?
That's obvious. Unlike Real Madrid where there is no electoral process and a judge is taking care of bags full of ballot papers, here we are democratic. What we do is to give chances to any candidate so the club would be more democratic. That doesn't worry me.
Were you a supporter of Núñez at the time?
Yes. A large part of the club assets, which are now been used badly and sold, is ours thanks to the vision for the future of president Núñez.
What do you think about the possibility of a debate between the four current candidates?
If the media feel the need to organize a debate I will be glad to participate in the discussion, but that question needs to be answered by all the candidates.
But you can ask for it...
If we can debate, that would be good for the democracy of the club. But our concern now is not trying to set up a debate to have more exit through the media. What matters to us is to work hard, to talk to the member and to convince him of our project. That is the main task we have at the moment.
But the best way for you to reach the member is to defeat your opponents in a debate and to make the club member reconsider his vote.
That is another argument but it is not definitive. I refer to 2003 when the polls said one thing and the president was someone else.
this was the second part of this interview. you can read the first part here. you will be able to read the following part on this blog in the coming days with guixa talking among other things about barcelona president joan laporta and barcelona sports director txiki begiristain.
Read more:
Guixa wants clarification on Ronaldinho commission
Guixa not considering pact with other candidacies
Guixa wants representative fan clubs in board
