Barcelona presidential candidate Santiago Salvat gave an interview to Catalan online paper El Singular Digital.During your first public appearance you said that the other candidates were linked to political interests...In recent years we have clearly seen the politicization of Barça. The Catalan identity is also part of our ideas, we will never deny that, but I'll be the only president who will not get involved in politics. FC Barcelona is Catalan and an ambassador for Catalonia in the world and it's something that implicitly is always there. Personally, I have never been linked to politics, I'm not in favour of Catalan independence, but I believe in the Catalan nation.Catalan politician Joan Carretero has said that being the president of Barça is a lot more important than being the president of the Catalan government.Being the president of Barça has a far bigger social dimension, that is true. The Barcelona president is known worldwide and the Catalan president, unfortunately, is not. Political and economic interests have an influence on the current board?They influence the decisions of certain members. We must distinguish between political beliefs and the personal obligations that are generated by institutionally representing Barça. The club's board should represent all political and cultural sensitivities of the members and the fans. You cannot choose one concrete option.If we look at the economic area, an article published in the newspaper 'El Pais' talked about supposed links between Laporta and the president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov. What do you think is true about those reports?We have the evidence that this is true, but we won't use it. It is a very unclear issue, but I have seen that evidence. Obviously Barça should continue with those business dealings that give the club a good image and has to put aside those who are only in favour of some board member. In recent years, Barça has created more enemies than friends.We've also heard you say that your candidacy is not "extremist". The current has been so?Yes. Since the start, and especially at this moment, the board of Laporta has been extremist. Moreover, the current board is presidential. Laporta says what has to be done. And all those who have been leaving the board did that because they had the same feeling, they wanted to get in his seat to do the same.Regarding your candidacy, a lot of names have been discussed, including that of Carles Rexach.He has been in contact with us and he had a small commitment. After that, I found out through the newspapers that he would support Rosell. I did not like that. But in the next few days more names will come out, that is part of our strategy. We have a group of some twenty people, some of which have a great experience and others are young people with new ideas.You are the son of publisher...Yes, but I promise I won't write a book. Unlike many others, I don't run for the presidency of Barça to write a book. The final book that describes this club should be written by the members.
this was the second and last part of this interview. you can read the first part here.Read more:Salvat officially presents his candidacy[picture] The kiss of Santiago SalvatSon Camp Nou architect could lead remodellinginterview: xavier march
Barcelona presidential candidate Santiago Salvat gave an interview to Catalan online paper El Singular Digital.More and more people seem to claim the label of "alternative candidate"...We are the only truly new candidacy. All other projects have already been linked to electoral processes or to the board of directors. They already had their moment, now it's our turn, we have a new team, enthusiasm, with people who are prepared and who bring renewal to the club.But people like Josep Maria Minguella Josep and Jordi Medina are part of your project. Both have already tried before to become the president of Barça...They have tried it, they realize that everything has stayed the same and this time they want to offer their experience to a young and new project and therefore, they have set a step back. People do not see me as the candidate of Minguella and he has already begun working for us.As far as the sports area is concerend, Barça is going through one of the best moments of its history. It seems strange to talk about change...The sporting successes are not the responsibility of the president or the board, but of the professionals who have made this possible. We are the alternative regarding the institutional representation and have a way of doing things based on transparency. One of our slogans is: "The member will know everything".But Guardiola was appointed by the board of Laporta, no?That is a lie. Laporta did not want Guardiola. He refused the option en Marc Ingla then went to see Mourinho and when he said no, they decided to count on Guardiola. This was their last card left and they thought that if the results wouldn't be good, the member would not act, because Pep is a club icon.However, the titles will be one of the main arguments put on the table by the continuity candidate to convince the member.If we reach the presidency and Barça wins a Champions League, I do not want people to say that Santiago Salvat has won a Champions League. It will have been the players and the coaches who have done it. We want to give all the facilities to the coaches. I think I will have a good relationship with Guardiola and Xavi Pascual [coach of the basketball team].There has been talk of a "center" candidacy. That's a vague concept...The third way, our way, is a way between two extremes. The continuism and Sandro Rosell, who we call "pseudo-continuism".Then there are those who point at a big pact of all candidates against Rosell...All candidates against Rosell will be impossible because we won't be part of that. We won't go against anyone, the others are already doing that. Laporta, Rosell Ferrer or Ingla are already talking about a dirty campaign and we will not get involved in that fight. I'm sure there will be pacts and the ones who could most benefit from this are Ingla and Ferrer.In the case we really end up with those two blocks, your chances of becoming the president would get complicated?No, quite the opposite. The positions of each one would get more extreme, they would become more radical and it would become clear they want to get in power no matter what. A pact with us would be impossible because we would force them to accept a series of criteria related to transparency that they would not accept because they have a past at the club.
this was the first part of this interview. you will be able to read the second part in the coming days.Read more:Salvat officially presents his candidacy[picture] The kiss of Santiago SalvatSon Camp Nou architect could lead remodellinginterview: xavier march
Barcelona assets vice-president and presidential candidate Jaume Ferrer gave an interview to Catalan online paper El Singular Digital.
Some of the directors who left during the Laporta era have accused the president of distancing himself from the initial project. You share this vision?
The project for Barça has been functioning very well. We have maintained the sports and economic model to great success during those years. But there have been changes in the style and the actions of president Laporta. He has done many positive things, but he has done some things very badly. The latter, though they were few, are the ones who have sticked. I think the next president of Barça should try to not act in an unfortunate way.
But this is a position that carries responsibility and stress. Is it possible not to make any slip?
Yes, and the president should be the first to give the example. We need to find the best relations possible with all types of institutions, with other clubs, as well as a very direct contact with the partner.
You dare to give president Laporta a note?
I'm not good at giving notes but I can say that he will be remembered as one of the greatest presidents of Barça.
Laporta has launced his website and has brought his political career a little closer...
Everyone is responsible for his own decisions. I respect everyone's actions and it is he who must assess when and how he plans his political future. If I was in his situation, I would wait until I'm not the president of Barça anymore.
But you have been one of the most important people in the board. You have never suggested him to leave his political career until after the upcoming elections?
That is irrelevant. He has felt that he should do it the way he has done it. At some occasions, he has done it perfectly, he has defended the values of Barça. Now, however, he is using the club as a tool to enter in politics.
Let's talk about football. There are already people who try to question the team of Guardiola. And every project has to renew itself. This Barça can be improved somehow?
This is the best team in the world, a group made by the technical staff. And it's very clear to us that we will continue to give all our confidence to both the sports director and the coach. It must be them who lead the renewal of this team.
The coach and the sports director will be two of the pillars on which you will base your presidency in case you are elected?
Yes, and besides that, we will keep on investing in the youth academy without sacrificing our spectacular and competitive way of playing. We will have an economic model that keeps going for more internationalization. And as far as specific proposals are concerned, we want to build a new Palau Blaugrana, to reform the Nou Camp and to redevelop the Miniestadi.
The last question, a more personal one. What kind of relationship do you today have with Laporta?
My relationship with Laporta was much closer in 2003 than it is now. I do not know who or what is to blame, but today I feel further away from his way of doing things.
this was the second part of this interview. you can read the first part here.
Read more: Ferrer won't accept conditions Laporta Laporta confirms board support for Ferrer
Ferrer: "We should study shirt sponsorship"interview: xavier march
Barcelona assets vice-president and presidential candidate Jaume Ferrer gave an interview to Catalan online paper El Singular Digital.
You are part of the current board and running for president. Is your project one of reform or of continuity?
Our idea is to maintain what is working. We are committed to continue with the model that has given us so many successes in recent years, but using another style. It's about the same sporting and economic project, but including a structure in which the president is not the main protagonist, which should be the players and the coaches.
So your candidacy will therefore put special emphasis on the manners?
The big difference will be in the way of doing things. We want the board to be on par with what the club represents. We propose to work with much more discretion than has been done so far. For example, defending our roots without doing politics from within the club.
Despite the insistence of Laporta, you have not accepted to form one united candidacy with Alfons Godall [note: the interview dates from before last week's event, when laporta decided to support ferrer, after which godall withdrew his candidacy].
It hasn't been possible to close even one deal with Alfons Godall when we were considering a joint candidacy. Both him and I had the legitimate wish to head a project, but, even though we tried, we couldn't even agree when we were to name the people who should be part of it.
Some people say that your candidacy is motivated by the resentment caused by you not being the preferred candidate of Laporta.
Long before Laporta gave his support to Alfons Godall, I had already said that I wanted to take part and to lead a project.
Why do you think Laporta has backed Godall?
The president should say this. I can only think of one reason, and that is the friendship he has with Alfonso Godall.
You have felt betrayed?
No. This is a matter of individual freedom. However, I think that no one should choose his successor, that person should come forward naturally, or it should be decided by the members of the board. For me, the choice of Laporta is not something that has a lot of importance.
Many of the candidates who are running in these elections have been part of the board of Laporta. What went wrong since 2003?
It is not at all easy to be part of the board of directors of Barça. Over the years there have been people who thought that things should be different and others who weren't able to deal with the pressure. It's a fact that a lot of people have left. Many of them were and are great Barcelona fans and have worked hard for the club.
You were one of the directors involved in spying affair. Did you think about resigning?
No. I have always worked based upon responsibility and discretion. The espionage affair was very unpleasant, but in any case, it wasn't me who should have resigned, but other people.
The board was once again in the news instead of the team...
At that moment, we had important games ahead. We received the explanations that we thought were appropriate, we reached an agreement that was more or less satisfactory and we decided to close the issue and to move forward. The sporting results confirmed that we were right.
You have recently declared that you stay on the board to "continue to keep an eye on things until the last day"...
We need to play down those words. There are still decisions to be taken and the club is still moving. Recently I have been kicked out of the Delegate Commission and therefore I don't have a view anymore on the daily activities of the club. Because of the members that have chosen us, I think I should continue to give my opinion in the board as long as the statutes allow me to do so.
this was the first part of this interview. you can read the second part here.
Read more: Ferrer won't accept conditions Laporta Laporta confirms board support for Ferrer
Ferrer: "We should study shirt sponsorship"interview: xavier march
Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito gave an interview to Catalan online paper El Singular Digital.Are you in favour of linking politics and sports?
No, not at all. The Catalan character of Barça defines Barça. Nobody can want, and in any case he won't get away with it, to reduce the Catalan identity of the club by even a millimetre. This is an integral part of the club, it's defining and it must be defended strongly, firmly.
That's what Laporta does, no?
To defend the Catalan character of Barça is one thing and getting involved in party politics is another. I respect his political ideas and I recognise his aspirations, but he should do all this once he has left the presidency of the club. Barça cannot be used for any personal interest. Laporta takes advantage of Barça and the club's Catalan character for his political career. He has made a big mistake there.
The candidates now have to deal with a club that is too politicized?
Yes. In the last months Laporta has managed to increase the instability and the tension among the fans of Barça. We must defend the club's Catalan identity without looking for any personal gain and without doing party politics.
Let's change subject. The candidate Alfons Godall wants to reach a club budget of 1.000 million euros in 2016. Is that possible?
Saying things like that can have a media impact but I find it little rigorous. A budget should be understood within a framework of a balance sheet and a profit and loss account. I'd like to know on the basis of which models they are working, but in general I would like them to use these concepts in a more solid and serious way.
It also has an impact on the bank guarantees needed in future elections, right?
If Barça has a budget of 1.000 million euros, the club member who wants to take part in future elections should put down a guarantee of 150 millions since the guarantee should represent 15% of the budget of the club. The board should not put down that guarantee, that's what the statutes say. Therefore, it would be very difficult for a non-board club member to participate.
Strangely we have talked little about sports. At this level, the current Barça can be improved?
It's impossible to improve the results of the senior football team of Barça, we have won everything. Regarding the sports structures, if we win the elections we want to talk with Josep Guardiola to explain him what our idea is and to shape things based on his opinion.
It seems that he's not ready to stay at the club for a long time.
I think he would like to continue and we will do what we can to make this happen. If he doesn't, Barça will go on as it has done in these 109 years of history before he arrived. The challenge is very big, the results are historical, but we must never give up the objective, the will and the dream to repeat it, with or without Pep.
You think he feels comfortable with the board of Laporta?
I'm not aware of the details of the personal relationship between them. But it's very clear to Guardiola that it was the current president and the current board who gave him the opportunity to become the coach of Barça. I don't have other information than that.this was the third and last part of this interview.Read the previous parts:
Benedito: "I shaped a reliable and solid model" Benedito: "Board should be at same level as team"
interview: xavier march
Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito gave an interview to Catalan online paper El Singular Digital.You were part of that project that won the 2003 elections. What went wrong that you now present an alternative candidacy?
Our idea is to recover that project, update it and renew it, because today it still is perfectly valid. The problem has been that Laporta and his board of directors have at a certain moment abandoned the road.
In what sense?
That model was based on the very clear idea that the club is owned by the club members and that leads to a high necessity of transparency, honesty, representation, ethical behaviour, integration and diversity. Laporta has distanced himself, and a lot, from these proposals during his mandate...
Go on...
Our first football team is at a unique level, unsurpassable. We must achieve that the board and the rest of the club is at the same level as the team.
Over the last years that wasn't the case?
No.
When did the decline start?
Over the last period, especially the last two or three years, when it became clear in an explicit way that the board and Laporta himself have taken an other, totally different road.
Cases of espionage, an attempt to intervene in the sale of Mallorca, compromising pictures at a Barcelona night club. But do those things matter in the world of football when the results are good?
With other sports results, the perception of the mandate of Laporta would certainly have been different. We must remember that not so long ago, in the vote of no confidence of 2008, 60,27% of the club members asked him to leave. Laporta has had some episodes where he fell short of representing an entity that is so important for this country.
Some link those attitudes to an exaggerated ego. What do you think?
He has undergone a change. The Laporta I knew when all this started is very different from the one I know today. It is difficult to know the reasons. It's surely related to personal and more intimate issues, but I am unable to puzzle them out. The only thing I can verify is that this is a different Laporta than the one I have worked with for so many years.
Personal attitudes are enough to judge his management?
In the end, it is concepts like the lack of transparency and honesty, that really show that there has been a lack of representation during his time. Just as I said that he clearly passed the test regarding the overall management of the club, in this aspect he deserves a clear fail. He hasn't been up to the mark after the support he got from the voters in 2003.
this was the second part of this interview. you can read the first part here and the third part here.Read more:Benedito signs ex-campaign director LaportaIntroducing BeneditoBenedito: "Rosell has a different model"interview: xavier march
Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito gave an interview to Catalan online paper El Singular Digital.There are already people who point out that these elections will be a matter of two, Rosell and Godall...Every now and then the club members of Barça have the rare ability to choose their representatives and this fact alone proves that the upcoming elections at the club cannot be a matter of two.Give some reasons to believe in your candidacy.I have worked with Laporta for almost fifteen years, before he was president and during his term in office. During that period, I have had the opportunity to shape a reliable and solid club model, a model that is different from the continuity one, and by intuition, also different from the one that Sandro Rosell will present.Make your project a bit more concrete.The defining element of Barça is that it is owned by 170.000 people and this is the reason of being that defines and orientates our model. I think that the projects of other candidates, like Sandro Rosell, will focus on other aspects. We'll focus on the club member.Joan Carretero [catalan politician] said several months ago that the position of Barça president is more important than that of president of the Catalan government. Do you feel ready to take on this challenge?Yes, but I do not share the words of Carretero. Catalonia is a thousand years old and has a splendid story ahead that is in the hands of the Catalans. Barça can not be explained without Catalonia, but Catalonia can without Barça. I can not accept that the president of the Catalan government would be compared with the president of Barça.Evaluate the presidency of Laporta.If we make an overall assessment, I don't have any problem in recognizing that Laporta has been a good president. Not recognizing that he made the start of a change would be unfair. He maybe has not been the best president in the history of Barça but he has been the president of the best Barça is history, that's a fact. On the other hand, it has to be said that there have been things he didn't do and others that he has done badly.What is the economic situation of the club at this moment?Barça's accounts are audited and we have to believe everything they say. There are nevertheless some elements, especially regarding assets operations, that suggest certain treasury difficulties that make one think that things aren't as good as they tell us. I can not think of any reason to hide information for the club member and if I am president I will therefore assure maximum transparency regarding this issue.Projects such as the Foster remodelling attract the attention.And the Miniestadi project too. The candidacies of Godall, and presumably those of Ferrer and Sandro, are in favour of the reclassification of the stadium of the second team. We believe that the assets' solvency ratio is what secures the future viability of the club and we are totally opposed to losses in that aspect.
Regarding the Foster reform, we are also against it, for the simple fact that this is about spending 400 million euros and because it is unacceptable to make these kinds of decisions without consulting the members.this was the first part of this interview. you can read the second part here and the third part here.
Read more:Benedito signs ex-campaign director LaportaIntroducing BeneditoBenedito: "Rosell has a different model"interview: xavier march
Barcelona presidential candidate Santiago Salvat gave an interview to Catalan online paper El Singular Digital.
