Benedito: "They paid too much for Ibrahimovic"

Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito gave an interview to Spanish football site Mercafutbol.

translation: jakob zsambok

Let's go back to the subject of David Villa If you win the elections and he is already signed, what will you do with Zlatan Ibrahimovic?
This will be another problem that will have to be handled by the sports department.

Do you think the criticism he recently received is justified?
I again can only give you my opinion as a fan. I think they paid too much for him, the price of the transfer didn't reflect his market value. Nevertheless I think he can offer a lot more than he has shown so far.

The players who are not subject to criticism are the homegrown players. What plans do you have for the youth academy.
We are talking here about the uniqueness of our club, it's something we have to sustain and to improve. That's why when the time comes we will talk about the sporting structure of the club, but only about some of the issues. About the others, we will first talk to Pep Guardiola.

Will you continue to work with José Ramón Alexanco?
No neither with him, nor with Txiki Begiristain as sports director.

Let's focus on your philosophy. What will be your arguments to convince the members to vote for you?
The assets policy for example. We have a way to look at those things, which is different to the other candidates.We also have different ideas about the relationship with the members. We want Barça to be more involved in the society. We are talking about the stance the institution can take in the fight against inequality in our society. We will be different in the issues of globalization and internationalization. We want to change the way our fans relate to the club. Also about the issues of assets policy, we want to construct a new Palau and rebuild the stadium. All of those things will be handled with the level of excellence a club like ours deserves, with total transparency and our feet on the ground, with common sense and doing things the "catalan" way.

Do you think Sandro Rosell is the favourite to win the elections?
It depends on the area in Barcelona you go to and which newspapers you read. In some of them it seems like Rosell doesn't have a rival. However this perception is contrasted by my experience when talking with the members. My perception in contrast to the estimations is that 80% of the voters are still undecided. I think this election will be a very open one.

Do you think that the "war" between Rosell and the continuity candidacy will benefit you?
The only thing I can tell you is that I would like to have clean elections in which we can talk about our plans with education. I'm only interested in communicating my plans to the members with the same chances as the others. We don't know what the others will do but we certainly won't enter this game because that wouldn't go in hand with the Barça we want.

Do you agree with the appointment of Johan Cruyff as honorary president of Barcelona?
I think if the club makes the decision to have an honorary president for the first time in its 110 years of history, it should be a consensus decision. Therefore we should have had the opportunity to decide, first if we even want an honorary president, and if we want to have one, it should be a person who represents everyone. In any case to erase any doubts we will consult the members about the decision to appoint Cruyff, if the majority is ok with it, I will be too.

Will you continue with Txiki Begiristain and Tito Vilanova?
As I already said before, I won’t continue with Tixi, because I think a new presidency should have a new technical director since it's a post of confidence. About Tito we would have to talk with Pep, but I'm certain that he will want to continue working with him, and therefore he will stay.

this was the third and last part of this interview. you can read the first part here and the second part here.

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Benedito says others have political and media links

interview: elena fernández

Guixa: "We remain the clear alternative to Laporta"

Barcelona presidential candidate Jaume Guixà gave an interview to Spanish football site Mercafutbol.

translation: jacob coronado

Despite opposing the Foster project, you are committed to the renewal of the Camp Nou...
Yes, we understand that the Camp Nou is a five-star venue but that it needs a complete restoration. We can gradually upgrade it.

What are your plans for the Miniestadi?
The Miniestadi is a small Camp Nou and we will strengthen the grassroots and the concept of our youth program. We will finish the training centre and put in place a technical staff that will turnit into a High Performance Football Center.

You refererred to La Masia as a model that you would like to export to different countries...
Yes, we understand that the model of our youth academy is very valid and should be followed more closely. The concept of our academy will be exported so that we will not only have players at the training center in Barcelona, but also create a universal program.

Let's continue to talk about the sports structure you are thinking of for Barcelona, because you have explained in your decalogue that you would replace the figure of a sporting director by a staff of three experts who would work in coordination with the first team coach. How would this favour the sporting operations of Barca?
It would benefit the youth teams, Barça Atlètic, as well as the first team. Everyone has to play in the same way, the same style of football, and that means that the little ones at the training center need to know what what will be expected of them when they are older and reach the first team. And on that path, the three sports directors - youth, Atlètic and first team - should all have the same criteria of training, built-up to the game, player attitudes, knowing that they are defending the same shirt.

Do you think Sandro Rosell is the favourite to win this election?
No. I honestly think this is going to change when each candidate presents his project.

If you became president, what would you change about the current management by Barça president Joan Laporta?
First of all, I would introduce a different style. The presidentialism of Joan Laporta has sinned in many ways, and I believe that I have a different way of being and thinking. I am more open, more participatory, more open for dialogue, more democratic and more transparent...

At the beginning of the pre-campaign you defined your candidacy as the "alternative to Laporta". Now that two other candidates, Alexis Plaza and Santi Salvat, have no association with Joan Laporta, have you redefined your motto?
We believe that we remain the clear alternative to both Laporta and the Elefant Blau and that we, in that context, present a different project. We were the first, the rest have joined in later which is a good thing. When your program is copied, this confirms that we have a good project.

What do you think about the political use of Barça by Laporta?
I think that, as a citizen, Joan Laporta has every right to participate in the democratic process and I encourage him to do is. It is something different when you are Barca president though. I think the president of Barça has to think about the institution, and should be open for the diversity that Barcelona represents and in that sense, he has mixed these two figures and, as I understand it, to his personal advantage. I asked him in a letter that he should separate things and that if he wanted to strengthen his political profile he should resign as Barça president because Barça is plural and the members do not want to get involved in politics. That is what the political parties are for.

Another decision of Joan Laporta was to appoint honorary president Johan Cruyff. How did you feel about that appointment?
I'm not going to question the value of Johan Cruyff as a player and coach, but I oppose the use of his image two months before the elections in a controversial manner at a presentation where only guests that were invited could enter the ceremony and no members were allowed to attend, which to me divides the supporters. I think the club's statutes do not include the figure of honorary president but only that of honorary member. This decision, therefore, must be validated by the General Assembly in the interest of Johan and of the club.

Before you told us you are the president of a fan club in Sant Cugat. Do you believe that, during the mandate of Joan Laporta, the fan clubs have been properly treated?
I think the penyes have been neglected. It seems as if they have not been taken into account. We want to strenghten the social area of the club and we have already stated publicly that the spokesman of the council of the fan clubs will be part of the board in the event that the members decide that Jaume Guixà will be the next president.

Joan Laporta has stated that the current Barcelona model is based on Johan Cruyff, Catalunya and Unicef. Do you agree with this statement?
No. I think that Barça is more than a club because of the hundred and a bit years of history, because of the thirty-one years of the youth academy, because of the legendary players from the Barça of the five cups, because of the history the Barça of the six cups will make... All tgether, we strive for a bigger Barça.

this was the second and last part of this interview. you can read the first part here.

Read more:
Guixa wants to export youth academy
The Decalogue of Jaume Guixa
Guixa: "You cannot trust the polls"

interview: elena fernández

Guixa: "We won't win by promising a star signing"

Barcelona presidential candidate Jaume Guixà gave an interview to Spanish football site Mercafutbol.

translation: jacob coronado

Why does a university professor in business organization, architect, and lawyer, want to be president of FC Barcelona?
First of all, these titles don't make you president of Barça, but if we add that I am president of the fan club of Sant Cugat del Vallés, that my electoral career for the presidency started back in 2006 and that I feel a great passion towards the colours of Barça it is clear that what moves me as a pre-candidate are the dreams and the desire for a different project.

As you said, you have already been a pre-candidate in the election of Barcelona in 2006 but you failed to make the cut... What makes you think that, this time, you can achieve the 2.095 signatures required to take part in the final vote?
In principle, in 2006 we said no to any more elections to the presidency of Barcelona in August because they have to be participatory, democratic and with maximum attendance. In 2010, Barcelona president Joan Laporta told us that there would be an election with maximum participation but he has once again violated this promise of democracy. Still, after the months of the pre-campaign, after I presented myself last December, we are excited and eager to campaign and propose an alternative to Laporta. However, we are seeing, unfortunately, that the current board of directors are continuously intervening to block the popular vote.

How did you take the club's decision to stop allowing the collection of signatures on the final match day in the Nou Camp?
Very bad because what the club, Joan Laporta, and the Elefant Blau have always defended has been transparency, participation, and democracy. Moreso, Laporta who at times has expressed desire to go into politics, is giving a bad example. Barça must support maximum participation so that the the highest possible number of members can exercise their right to vote.

The current board seems ready to take another controversial decision which would be to close a signing before the end of term. If so, what do you think of it?
We, as in the candidacy of Jaume Guixà, have always said that we will be respectful with the first team and we would not do as they did with the Beckham controversy. We do not have that line of conduct, we are serious and we will not win by a signing, but instead with the illusion of a project, and the desire and enthusiasm to convince the member, which is the only guarantee of the vote.

Do you think therefore, that if the current board would present a new signing it would be for electoral interests, rather than sporting one?
It is obvious and already showing at this time by them not allowing the member to participate on a very important game day. I'd like to see, finally, how this process ends because with the members of the Elefant Blau, with continuism, and with the people who have left the laportism, in the end there will not be plurality of projects and the member will not be able to discern one project from another.

You've already made it clear you will not use the promise of a star signing, but do you think that some other candidate could?
I can only talk about the candidacy of Jaume Guixà. For the other candidates, each can choose their own lines for a project and how to get the vote. We will not destabilize Pep Guardiola, we will not destabilize the first team, and we will not win the presidency with a star signing. This was our message from the first day and we are going to maintain that.

Why do you think you should win this election?
I think the members have to analyze and to put apart the sporting successes, congratulating Joan Laporta, as he will go down in history as the president of the six cups. But I think the member of Barcelona has managed to differentiate between the successes of Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff and the poor management by the current board. We believe that the continuism is all about Laporta, as he has shown as Barça president, who embraced his lifelong friend and when he saw necessary, he abandoned him and hugged another. In addition, there was a motion of censure in 2008 when some board members left because they understood that the mandate had expired. I would place them in the same bag. We have a different project, especially in the field of management. We are concerned about the economic situation of the club because there's a spending in short and in medium term which should be corrected, and a revenue trend that we clearly must change. We are also concerned about the treatment of the sports centre which is unfinished, and the process of reclassifying the Mini Stadium. I am in contact with the affected neighborhood associations and they oppose the project. And when we talk of holding the reins of the club differently, we mean that the member of Barcelona will participate in a voting process on the reclassification. We also say no to the Foster project, which is a project of megalomania of Laporta to leave behind a legacy that includes this pharaonic project that will have high lighting and maintenance costs.

this was the first part of this interview. you can read the first part here.

Read more:
Guixa wants to export youth academy
The Decalogue of Jaume Guixa
Guixa: "You cannot trust the polls"

interview: elena fernández

Benedito: "Transfer of Villa won't influence vote"

Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito gave an interview to Spanish football site Mercafutbol.

translation: jakob zsambok

Let's talk about Laporta, you know him since 1996. Did he change a lot over the past years?
Yes, he did change a lot, he went through a personal evolution, which wasn't foreseeable. I didn't expect it.

Did he change for the worse?
In the part which affects me directly, as a member and as a candidate, his change has been bad, yes. In his change of attitude I see the failings of fulfilling what he has promised in the 2003 elections, this is partly due to the changes of staff he had to endure during his tenure.

What promises didn't he fulfill?
Some very important core aspects of his program of 2003, to which I'm proud to have contributed. Transparency, responsibility, participation of the members and the issues of assets policy, those were major points of his 2003 campaign.

If the continuity candidacy, led by Jaume Ferrer, wins the elections, do you think they will continue to overlook those core areas of the 2003 program?
What I can say to Jaume is that he missed golden opportunities to do some of the things he now promises in his program while being an actual vice-president of FC Barcelona. In any case, we will listen to his proposals, but it's a fact that he and other people of the current administration were in the position to make or even force changes but they didn't do it. So he will have to do some explaining on how exactly he will do those things now, seven years later.

In the last weeks, several media confirmed that David Villa will be signed by the current board at the end of the season. Do you think this rumour is true?
We are entering the realm of speculation, and therefore I can't tell you anything certain, but it wouldn't surprise me if the current board would make such a move, especially with the election process ongoing. I wouldn't rule it out and it wouldn't surprise me.

If the rumor is indeed confirmed, do you think the signing of Villa will serve the continuity candidacy?
I think the valuation of the current administration will not depend on a new transfer in the last hour. The people have already formed their opinion. What we saw was the best season in sporting terms of the football team in the history of Barca, but despite that, I don't think they will win the elections. I have to believe that I will win it. I do understand however that they think a signing like Villa will benefit them in the election, but I don't share that opinion.

On the other hand, do you think, if the signing of Villa will be confirmed, other candidates will also try to announce new names?
In our case, we made the content of our program the priority. With regard to the sporting side, our priority is Pep Guardiola. So if other candidates want to talk about signings, we sure won't.

Do you think Sandro Rosell will be the next candidate to announce a new signing?
Yes to be frank, I wouldn't rule it out that candidates do that and Sandro could be one of those candidates who will chose this way to try to win, as has happened in previous elections.

Will you talk with Pep Guardiola about new signings if you win the election?
The coach, who will hopefully be Pep Guardiola for many more years, and the sports director will decide on this matter, and then present their plans to the board. It won't be me alone who decides it.

In your opinion, what positions do you think need reinforcements for the next season ?
You won't hear me talk a lot about sporting issues. I have my opinion as a fan, but if I am president, those matters will be handled by the sports department of the club. Personally I think we need people on the wing, but in the end Pep Guardiola will tell me if that's the case or not, my opinion in this matter counts for little.

this was the second part of this interview. you can read the first part here and the third part here.

Read more:
Benedito: "Our secret weapon are the people"
[pictures] Presidential candidates in Paris
Benedito says others have political and media links

interview: elena fernández

Benedito: "We want to listen to the member"

Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito gave an interview to Spanish football site Mercafutbol.

translation: jakob zsambok

Were you disappointed when you saw the election timetable?
Maybe disappointed is the wrong word, but the club statutes indicate that the election date should be a date which promotes maximum participation in the election. So in theory the elections should be held on a game day. As it is now, the collection of signatures has to start on 14 May [note: the collection will in the end start on 17 may]. With this decision we have to validate all the signatures in two instead of three days.

The board are justifying the election date, because they wanted to make sure the election process doesn't detract the first team.
I don't know how they can justify that this way, because I do not understand how a football player can be detracted by something that happens outside of the stadium. It doesn't make any sense.

Anyway, you contacted more than 2.300 cub members and traveled 12.000 kilometres to promote your candidacy, and you have about 5.000 contacts on facebook, so it surely shouldn't be much of a problem for you to collect the required 2095 signatures?
It's true we've already had the honour to talk with many of the socios, and we wish to continue to do so. To talk and, above all, to listen. Right now my facebook account has exceeded the limit of new friends request, but we also have many other support groups.
We believe that by continuing to work with the same conviction, we will reach the required signatures. Over the last six months, we have received a great deal of support, so we wont stop.

What about the other candidates, which ones do you think will have more problems getting the required signatures?
I don't know how the final days of the election will work out, but because of my experience with other elections, I can say that getting the signatures requires hard work by any candidate. You have to do a lot of talking with the members, to try to convince them of your project, it's not an easy thing to do. I saw other candidates who did not talk with the socios at all. In the last six months, I tried to talk to as many as possible, I don't know how the others gather their support, but in any case I'm sure Sandro Rosell will obtain the required signatures, because he had a lot of time to prepare for his campaign. As for the others, I'm not sure.

We talked about facebook. The importance of new technologies in this campaign is incredible.
I think it all roots in the positive evolution of our society. Social networks are becoming more important every day, and as a consequence, Barça has to adapt to those changes. Obviously this wasn't the case in previous elections.

Did you use facebook or twitter before your candidacy?
I did use facebook but just for my close friends, I never used twitter before.

If you win the elections, will you use those technologies to get closer to the socios?
Definitely! They are very powerful tools, with some limitations though, because they do not reach all age groups, but those elements are anyway gradually gaining more importance.

The importance of the new technologies is one of the big differences of this election process in comparison to those of the past. Did you spot any other differences, as you have already participated in four previous elections?
For us there were not many other differences to previous elections, because our principle has always been to get as close as possible to the members. We like to say that our secret weapon are the people, we didn't change our willingness to listen and to look after the member.
What did change are the types of members, because of the current 168.000 members, 88.000 have joined the club after the election of Laporta. That means those members haven't been members for a long time. There were also 40.000 who joined but already left. So we have to assume that there is a greater volatility in comparison to previous elections where we had a fixed group of members with a large number of guaranteed voters.

this was the first part of this interview. you can read the second part here and the third part here.

Read more:
Benedito: "Our secret weapon are the people"
[pictures] Presidential candidates in Paris
Benedito says others have political and media links

interview: elena fernández