Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito published on monday an opinion piece in Catalan newspaper El Periódico.Travelling around the world, when you identify yourself as Catalan and resident of Barcelona, the subject of FC Barcelona immediately arises.
Generally, the speaker expresses his admiration for our club, for the performances and the brilliant game, and if he's a little more interested he soon starts to ask increasingly concrete questions and the concept of "more than a club" comes up.
That motto is vague enough so that it can have many different definitions. We could say that there are almost as many definitions of "more than a club" as Barça has club members. I have always believed that in this diversity lies much of the club's success.
Personally, I define "more than a club" by also explaining that Barça belongs to its members. That it's a democratic club. That it has by-laws that govern the activities of the club and that the club members choose the governing bodies, the president and the directors.
It's an explanation that is easily understood and that causes both curiosity and admiration, because in this commercialized world of football, the fact that the club members of Barça, that the club members of an exemplary elite club are its owners is a wonderful rarity.
this is the first part of this opinion piece. you can read the second part here
Read more:
Agusti Benedito to run for president
Introducing Benedito (five-parts series)
picture: germán rodríguez rosas
