Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito gave an interview to Catalan online newspaper El Debat.
It could damage you that you have been linked with Laporta?
I have had opportunity to know Barça in detail as well as some of the mechanisms around the club. I won't be penalized for that, on the contrary. I think that they cannot label me as continuity candidate, since I have cut relations with Laporta and I'm now clearly situated on the opposite side. Anyway, I am proud to have participated in that project of 2003. I think that if it's renewed and upgraded it is still perfectly valid, and most members would agree with that. The problem is that there has been a moment where president Laporta drops out and forgets about the project.
How do you rate his time as president?
As I have already said before, he might not be the best president in the history of Barça, but he is the president of the best Barça in history. Therefore Laporta has done many good things, but then there are also some things he had said he would do and that he didn't do. And even worse, he said he would do some things in a certain way while he has done the opposite.
Where did he fail?
We wanted transparency in the communication, concepts such as participation of the members, raising the level of representation, defending principles such as integration and integrity, and more specifically the issue of the club assets. And in all these matters, that are essential for the club, Joan Laporta deserves to be suspensed. We also must add the political use and his politicization of Barça, one of the worst errors he has made.
How do you value the nomination of Johan Cruyff as honorary president?
Appointing someone that way, with a agreement in the board at the end of the presidency and without consulting the members, I think it's another mistake and one more electoral move of this board.
Do you have a star signing in the pipeline?
I think these elections will be the first ones in which the sports issue won't be so important. The fact that we have the best coach we can have, and I'm not even talking about the results, makes everyone think that we should continue on this path. That is why we will try to convince Guardiola to continue for many years. I anyway do not rule out that in the end a famous player will be used to attract votes, and the current board could be the first to act.
Finally, there are two months left to the elections. Who supports you?
I think that we will easily meet the requirement to get the 2.095 signatures to become a candidate and that our secret weapon are the people. Our candidacy is that of this land's entrepreneurial spirit and comes from the bottom and from all around the pitch not just from the main stands nor is it designed in offices. It is based on the idea that the club is of everyone and not for the private businesses of a few people and this is what drives us. I want to emphasize that 80% of members have not yet decided their vote. In 2003, Joan Laporta was given 0.5% of the voting intentions by the papers just three weeks before the elections, while Lluís Bassat got 72%, and we all know what happened. It is unpredictable, the elections are luckily very open and in the next two months we will continue to work hard.
this was the second and last part of this interview. you can read the first part here.Read more:
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Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito gave an interview to Catalan online newspaper El Debat.
You are seen as the candidate of the third way. What would you bring to the club?
I have been linked for over 13 years with FC Barcelona, with Laporta and many other people – in the entourage since 1996 and as part of the club since 2003 until I left a year ago – and that has given me the opportunity to design a club model I would like to promote. This well-defined model is different from the project that could be defended by the continuism of Jaume Ferrer and the one of Sandro Rosell.
Can you advance some proposals?
There is an issue that differs us greatly from other candidates, namely that we oppose the sale of assets and more specifically we are against the sale of the Miniestadi. It is a very important issue that is linked to the assets solvency of the club and therefore to its future solvency. Our program is very extensive, but I also want to mention the civic dimension of the club, because we think that as a famous institution, we have the responsibility to pass on a set of civic values to the society.
Whom do you feel closer to, Rosell or Ferrer?
At a personal level, I have a very good relationship with Jaume Ferrer, with Sandro Rosell and with their teams. Regarding the programs, although mister Rosell hasn't yet presented his, I have the feeling that I'm distanced as much from it as from that of Ferrer.
An agreement with one of them is an option?
Our model of Barça is certainly not compatible with the model defended by the continuism and by intuition not with the model of Rosell either. This is the reason why we are having an own project and why a pact is not viable. We are talking about different models and I don't think it's possible that we could team up and write a program together. If the member decides that we are not the ones who should preside the club, we will continue with our project, and maybe in the next elections we will have the opportunity to present it another time because we feel it is the right thing. But I can say that we won't make a pact.
Can you anyway tell me what you think is a virtue and a defect of the other candidates?
As far as I know and hear, both are big Barcelona fans and good people. As a negative point, I would say that Rosell has left the ship and his position of vice-president of Barça very early and very fast. Although I admit that he had lost an internal power struggle when he wanted to change the coach, I think that he should have been aware that a board is a collective body, that there is a president and that you cannot always have things your way. On Jaume Ferrer on the other hand, I would say that he has problems to make decisions and that he often has missed the right train.
this was the first part of this interview. you can read the second part here.Read more:
Benedito introduces campaign fundraising Guixa and Benedito want members to ratify Cruyff Benedito: "I will win the elections"
interview: gemma vialcanet
Catalan online newspaper El Debat reports that former Barcelona sports vice-president Sandro Rosell is for the gamblers at online betting site 'Betfair' the favourite to be chosen as president of FC Barcelona later this year.Rosell was on Tuesday at noon noted at 1,4 euro for each euro input, with Barcelona assets vice-president Jaume Ferrer at this moment being seen as his biggest rival, with a rate of 3,3. A few hours before, Spanish news agency Europa Press had reported that Rosell was noted at 1,2 and Ferrer at 4.The rankingSandro Rosell: 1,4Jaume Ferrer: 3,3Alfons Godall: 5,1Ferran Soriano: 5,1Agustí Benedito: 7,2Jaume Guixà: 11,5Read more:Poll Rosell confirms his big lead
Poll result: Who should be the next president?
Ferrer feels backed by own poll
Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito gave an interview to Catalan online newspaper El Debat.
