Cartoon 14: Another spying scandal looming

* One of the investigated vice-presidents could be part of the candidacy of Sandro *

Laporta:
I want to know who it is... You can hire the spies again!

(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by kap

source:
el mundo deportivo

check more election cartoons here

Barcagate taboo in the dressing room

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that "Barcagate" - the story on the investigation by the club of four vice-presidents - has not been discussed inside the Barcelona dressing-room. None of the players, not even the team captains who are following the news about the club more closely, would have brought up the subject.

When the presumed scandal was made public in the press, Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola reportedly gave his players some advice about how to deal with the media reports on the case. The coach didn't want the issue to be used as an excuse for a drop in performances.

Upon his arrival as Barcelona manager last year, the Catalan would already have put in place several measures to shield the squad from the outside pressure and to keep the players focused on their daily work and on football matters. Newspapers would for example be forbidden in the dressing room.

With the presidential elections coming up in the spring of next year, Guardiola is aware that he will have to keep an even closer eye on the matter to avoid that the non-sporting issues would have an influence on the players and the team's performances.

read this blog's ten-parts series on the Barcagate story here

Related posts:
Cartoon: Guardiola cleaning up club image
Poll Result: People try to destabilize the club?

Poll Result: People try to destabilize the club?

Do you believe, like Laporta said when talking about "Barcagate",
that people are trying to destabilize the club?

Yes 57%
No 43%

total votes: 6342
start date poll: 11 october 2009
source: sport

Cartoon 11: Guardiola cleaning up club image

Guardiola:
I had this shining as a whistle... And the usual ones had to make it dirty again...

...And then they ask me why I don't renew.

(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by caye

source:
sport.es

see more election cartoons here

Barcagate (10) - The fallout

When one will look back in one year from now at Barcelona's presidential elections that will have been held earlier that year, it seems very likely that the decision of Barcelona chief executive Joan Oliver in March 2009 to order a detective agency to carry out an investigation regarding four Barcelona vice-presidents will be seen as a (and maybe as the) key moment.

When the discovery of the investigations by the four vice-presidents already made the choice of one continuity candidate very difficult, the public revealing of the affair now seems to have made it impossible that the current board will present one candidacy to the voters.

All media agree at this moment that there will most probably be two board members who will run for president: while Barcelona first vice-president Alfons Godall (or board member Xavier Sala i Martín) will be backed by current Barcelona president Joan Laporta, Barcelona marketing vice-president Jaume Ferrer would also be preparing a candidcay.

As a consecuence of that, the possibility that current board members will link up with board members who left the board since Laporta became president in 2003 would also have increased.

The race seems more open than ever.

this is the tenth and last part on the case. you can read the whole series here.


Read the previous parts of this series:
Barçagate (1) - El Periodico breaks the news
Barçagate (2) - Emergency press conference
Barçagate (3) - New revelations in the press
Barcagate (4) - Laporta speaks about spying claims
Barcagate (5) - The vice-presidents talk (part 1)
Barcagate (6) - The vice-presidents talk (part 2)
Barcagate (7) - Content of audit reports made public
Barcagate (8) - The Ferrer report
Barcagate (9) - A crucial dinner


picture:
barcelona chief executive joan oliver leaving the press conference during which he gave his version of the facts few hours after catalan newspaper "el periódico" published the story about the investigations on thursday 24 september 2009.

Cartoon 10: Spies discover anti-Barça conspiracy

Detective:
Mister Oliver. I just discovered something very important:
the referees are disadvantaging Barça!

Oliver:
A-ha! You see? The money of the members has been well-invested!

(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by kap

source:
el mundo deportivo

check more election cartoons here

Barcagate (9) - A crucial dinner

On Monday 21 September, Barcelona marketing vice-president Jaume Ferrer was the guest of honour of a so-called 'Pa i Tomàquet amb Tertúlia' session in a private apartment, owned by Catalan business man Josep Vilallonga, at the Passeig de Gràcia, the most prestigious avenue in Barcelona.

The 'Pa i Tomàquet' sessions are hosted by four prominent Catalan figures and are described as "a dinner-gathering, around a table, enjoying a 'pa amb tomàquet', in two services, and in good company with great wine. In those reunions we treat subjects of actuality and interest, with a Guest of Honour and [a number of] other persons, carefully selected. [The objective is to] meet and to debate about subjects of actuality and interest."

The sessions, that are organized since the year 2000, are named after the typical Catalan preparation 'pa amb tomàquet' (literally: 'bread with tomato'), that consists of bread - optionally toasted - with tomato rubbed over and seasoned with olive oil and salt.

At the 'Pa i Tomàquet' sessions, the guest of hounour can explicitly ask for confidentiality by using a sign that he has at his disposal and that has a phrase written on it that says "Que ningú no se'n recordi. I menys els periodistes"(Nobody shall remember this. And the journalists even less).

All attendants are informed at the start of the session that when this sign is shown, nobody will divulge nor publish whatever is said at that moment since it's considered to be said off-the-record. The same sign, framed into a design box, is also the gift that every guest of honour takes home as souvenir.


Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo reports that at one point during the session in which Ferrer took part, one of the journalists who were present asked the director if it was true that he had been investigated. After having raised the off-the-record sign, Ferrer confirmed this but played down the issue.

One of the people who attended the meeting was Rafael Nadal, director of Catalan newspaper El Periódico, that broke the news on the espionage affair a couple of days later, on Thursday 24 September. Nadal told El Mundo Deportivo that he didn't break the code of silence since the newspaper was already investigating the issue for two months.

A lot of people nevertheless think that the dinner was the key moment in the publication of the espionage story. The rumour was already running through Barcelona for a while, but this confirmation by Ferrer would have been the last piece of the puzzle.

The fact that it was El Periódico that revealed the investigations is seen by some as an attempt to hinder the political ambitions of Barcelona president Joan Laporta, also because Rafael Nadal, the director of El Periódico, is the brother of Joaquim Nadal, a minister in the Catalan government for the Socialists' Party of Catalonia.

this is the ninth of ten parts on the case. the next and last part will cover the fallout of the story. you can read the whole series here.


Read the previous parts of this series:
Barçagate (1) - El Periodico breaks the news
Barçagate (2) - Emergency press conference
Barçagate (3) - New revelations in the press
Barcagate (4) - Laporta speaks about spying claims
Barcagate (5) - The vice-presidents talk (part 1)
Barcagate (6) - The vice-presidents talk (part 2)
Barcagate (7) - Content of audit reports made public
Barcagate (8) - The Ferrer report


picture:
on the first picture, jaume ferrer is the second man from the right. rafael nadal, director of catalan newspaper "el periódico", is the second man on ferrer's right hand side. on ferrer's left hand side, there's santi nolla, director of catalan sports paper "el mundo deportivo". and right in front of nolla, you have joan vehils, director of catalan sports paper "sport".

Poll Result: Do you believe the club's version?

Do you believe the version of Joan Oliver
regarding the presumed spying on four Barça vice-presidents?

No 71%
Yes 29%

total votes: 4085
start date poll: 24 september 2009
source: sport

Cartoon 9: The enemy from within

Madrid has only one rival: Barça

Barça, on the other hand, has to fight against Madrid, the referees... and Barça itself!

(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by kap

source:
el mundo deportivo

check more election cartoons here

Barcagate (8) - The Ferrer report

Catalan newspaper El Periódico last Friday made public the content of the security audits (produced by a detective agency) on Barcelona vice-presidents Joan Boix, Joan Franquesa, Rafael Yuste and Jaume Ferrer.

This would prove that the audits weren't ordered by the club to protect the four vice-presidents, but to spy on them ahead of next year's elections. The reports would namely contain not one reference to the protection or the safety of the directors.

Below you find a summary of the audit report regarding Barcelona marketing vice-president Jaume Ferrer.


In the report there's a reference to the director's friendship with Josep Pujol Ferrusola, the son of former Catalan president Jordi Pujol, which is considered to be enough proof to state that Ferrer "has political and business ties" with the Pujol family. The report also points out that the vice-president had to start from scratch but that he now has "a considerable personal estate".

It is mentioned that Ferrer "is sued for criminal conversion and corporate offense in a case in which his former father-in-law - and owner of the company involved - accuses him of unfair competition by taking away clients and know how". The detective agency warns that the oral hearings didn't yet take place and that they are expected in the coming months, which could draw the attention of the press.

The report contains an extensive interview - Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia claims that it's three pages long - with the ex-father-in-law, who talked with people from the agency and told them he might inform Sandro Rosell and Ferran Soriano, two other presidential candidates, about the case.

The paper reports that Ferrer now claims that the dispute has in the meantime already been solved. Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo, that reports that the conclusions of the Ferrer report counts only 15 lines, claims that the case has already been filed by a judge and that an appeal is now still hanging at the Supreme Court, that would be handling the last formalities before filing the case definitely because it's not based on real events.

this is the eigth of ten parts on the case. the next part will cover the key moment in the revealing of the story. you can read the whole series here.


Read the previous parts of this series:
Barçagate (1) - El Periodico breaks the news
Barçagate (2) - Emergency press conference
Barçagate (3) - New revelations in the press
Barcagate (4) - Laporta speaks about spying claims
Barcagate (5) - The vice-presidents talk (part 1)
Barcagate (6) - The vice-presidents talk (part 2)
Barcagate (7) - Content of audit reports made public

Cartoon 8: Guardiola less credible than board

Guardiola:
Although we keep on winning our games and we are group leaders,
we are still the least favourites to win the Champions League...

Detective:
You will have to forgive me,
but this is even less credible than what the board told about the spying.

(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by kap

source:
el mundo deportivo

check more election cartoons here

Cartoon 7: The impossible peace

Customer 1:
You think that this club could live one day in absolute peace?

Custoomer 2:
Not even when winning 10 Champions Leagues in a row, Barça would be totally calm.

(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by caye

source:
cayecaturas

see more election cartoons here

Barcagate (7) - Content of audit reports made public

For the second time in fifteen days, Catalan newspaper El Periódico had yesterday a cover story on the investigation of four Barcelona vice-presidents.

The newspaper had now access to the audit reports and claims that it is clear that those weren't ordered to protect the four vice-presidents (Joan Boix, Joan Franquesa, Rafael Yuste and Jaume Ferrer) but to spy on them. The reports would contain not one reference to the protection or the safety of the directors.

Not even in the audit of vice-president Franquesa, who in the version of Barcelona chief exectutive Joan Oliver instigated the investigations when he informed the club that he thought he was being investigated and followed, there's no mentioning of a possible following of the director.

The reports mainly refer to financial situation of the four vice-presidents, both profesional as private, as well as to their legal proceedings (read more on the content of the audit reports here). The focus is on issues that could be used against the board members if they would decide to run for Barcelona president next year.

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo, that had access to the four reports as well, claims that they are full of mistakes and even lies and not worth the 56 000 euros paid for them.

Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia also treated the issue on Friday, saying that they had access to some of the reports and that it's clear that the security audit was in a fact a vulnerability check.

Each report would count between 35 and 40 pages - plus attachments with copies of public records - and deals with the following issues: the business and political relations of the four vice-presidents, their personal assets, their yearly income, their professional career, their criminal record, their debts, the companies they (partly) own, some press reports, as well as reports of interviews with people from their entourage.

Asked about the new revelations, Barcelona presidents Joan Laporta spoke to journalists at the airport of Barcelona upon arrival from a visit to Latin America last night and repeated, without going into specific details, that the reports were an attempt to destabilize the club:

"They are after us and they don't stop trying to destabilize us. I've already said that they'd better leave us alone but Barça is going through one of their best moments and some are determined to go down this road because they cannot stand that the club is lead by people who have a certain way of thinking (note: Laporta refers to his stands on the independency of Catalonia).

It's clear that they are insisting. Now it's this issue, then it's another one. But both myself and the team will keep on working so they won't succeed. For us, the espionage issue has already been closed five months ago.

I also want to make clear that the board is not divided in two groups. There's a diversity of opinions and we now need to put them together. Of course we're not all thinking the same. That's a good thing because it shows that it's a dynamic board. We respect everyone's opinion and the personal relations are good.

I have always acted in this kind of situations and when there's some crisis situation, I have taken decisions in the benefit of the club. I believe that this time we can find a consensus and that we don't have to take another type of decisions."

this is the seventh of ten parts on the case. the next part will cover the audit report on barcelona vice-president jaume ferrer. you can read the whole series here.


Read the previous parts of this series:
Barçagate (1) - El Periodico breaks the news
Barçagate (2) - Emergency press conference
Barçagate (3) - New revelations in the press
Barcagate (4) - Laporta speaks about spying claims
Barcagate (5) - The vice-presidents talk (part 1)
Barcagate (6) - The vice-presidents talk (part 2)

Cartoon 6: Security audits lead to board unanimity

* Unanimity in the board *

Laporta:
Any doubts?

(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by kap

source:
el mundo deportivo

see more cartoons here

Barcagate (6) - The vice-presidents talk (part 2)

On Monday 28 September, four days after the publication of a newspaper report that Barcelona has been spying on four vice-presidents, Barcelona vice-president Joan Boix was the third director involved - after his colleagues Rafael Yuste and Jaume Ferrer - who talked in public when he gave an interview to Catalan radio station COM Ràdio:

"It's true that when it happened, I felt bad and I was very angry. I had a hard discussion, more than just hard in fact, with the general director, Joan Oliver. He gave his explanations, we exchanged everything we were thinking and I ended up being convinced by what he said.

For me, the issue was closed after that and completely forgotten. We made an effort to resolve the issue back then and now that this has been made public and the wound has again been opened, this hurts again. I was annoyed when it was published because it made me re-live the bad moments I lived in the month of April. The impact of the report has been exaggerated and the story isn't important enough to put it on the cover.

I never considered resigning. I think the board of directors as a whole acted like they should, in a clear and consistent way. It's a historical precedent for this club as the common sense and the stability of the club prevailed. It was hard, very hard, but we took the right measures without anyone resigning.

We were able to deal with it internally, between us, and time has proven us right. You cannot imagine what could have happened if we would have destabilized the club at that moment by changing the structure.

I don't think that I or any of my family members or friends have been followed. The security audit is basically a study of one's personality and how one is seen by the people around him. It won't come out since I have it now. I don't know if a third person has a copy though. I didn't change any of my habits because of what happened. I don't have any reason to change because I lead a consistent life.

As for my role in the next elections, I can only say that this will depend highly on the person who will be our presidential candidate. I also think that the person who will head that candidacy should have the absolute freedom to surround him with the people he wants to have near."

On Friday 2 October, Barcelona vice-president Joan Franquesa was the last person involved to share his views about the issue when he gave an interview to Catalan local news site cugat.cat:

"Nobody likes to be investigated nor to be the target of that kind of audit. So it's not a pleasant thing to talk about this and I think that the best way to solve this is internally and not through the press. The more discreet we act, the better. Otherwise you might create a bad atmosphere among the fans and the entourage of the club.

I'm annoyed because of having been the target of a security audit. Both personally and because of the image of the club. Seen from the outside, it's a very serious issue but seen from the inside, you can understand a lot of things. In the end it's just an anecdote and this shouldn't overshadow the good performances of this board.

Barça is lead in a good way and is a reference in every aspect: sporting, social, economic. It's clear that because of some internal actions, third parties who want to be part of the club - and they have this right - are now taking advantage of this because the elections are coming up.

I think that my image has also been damaged because I've been linked to a case of espionage. I nevertheless don't exclude to take part in the elections, although I'm aware of my limitations and I don't know what my role could be. You cannot make plans because it's impossible to know what will happen in the coming months.

There are a lot of possibilities. Being president or board member, everything is open and it's also up to others to make a decision on that. If I can help to keep on defending the project that revolutionized the club somehow in 2003, I will be available to add what I can."

this is the sixth of ten parts on the case. the next part will cover the latest revelations on the content of the audit reports. you can read the whole series here.


Read the previous parts of this series:
Barçagate (1) - El Periodico breaks the news
Barçagate (2) - Emergency press conference
Barçagate (3) - New revelations in the press
Barcagate (4) - Laporta speaks about spying claims
Barcagate (5) - The vice-presidents talk (part 1)


picture:
Barcelona vice-president Joan Franquesa -right- and Barcelona president Joan Laporta -left- on Thursday 24 September, the day Catalan newspaper El Periódico brought the story on the investigations

Cartoon 5: Spying affair benefits opposition

Rosell
Yeah Yeah
Yeah Yeah
Yeeeaaah...

(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by alex

source:
golsud

see more cartoons here

Barcagate (5) - The vice-presidents talk

On Sunday 27 September, three days after the publication of a newspaper report that Barcelona has been spying on four vice-presidents, Barcelona vice-president Rafael Yuste was the first director involved to comment on the story in interviews with Catalan radio stations COM Ràdio and Catalunya Ràdio:

"I was surprised when I got to know what had happened and we went to see the chief executive. When Oliver explained me the situation at the time, I understood his arguments -which I won't explain here- they were reliable and I accepted them.

Joan Oliver joined the club one year ago at a difficult moment and I strongly believe that he's doing a very good job at a very complicated club and that he's working very hard to help making Barça a reference in the world. As vice-president, I'm very happy to have him with us.

Let's not use the word 'spying'. For me this wasn't an investigation but a security audit. It's a normal thing in the business world and it has been taken out of context. I don't want any controversy. I never felt that my privacy was violated and I didn't think about resigning for one moment.

I also absolutely believe Joan Laporta when he says he didn't know anything. I know him for many years and it's the truth. The board of directors is united and the fans should not be worried. I don't know if there are third parties behind the publication of the story, as the president says. I'm just surprised by the way the media are covering this now because it's an issue that has already been closed in the month of April, five months ago.

I'm now focusing on the day to day activities of the club. When the election campaign begins, we'll see what will happen or what my role can be. Now everyone has to support the club."

Around that same time, Barcelona vice-president Jaume Ferrer spoke at a press conference and gave his version of what has had happened:

"It feels like I'm forced to re-read a book that I had already finished and locked up in a cabinet. I already forgot about it, I don't want to re-live it and I don't want to give too much importance to it. When we found out about it, the issue was treated forcefully. What this means? Everybody can give the interpretiation he wants.

We were given the appropriate explanations and we decided to close the issue in April. Looking back now, I think we made the right decision. Everything turned out well. The issue was resolved internally back then and we are not planning any crisis meeting now.

Of course nobody likes to be investigated, but I've forgotten about it. Did I feel protected and helped by the club like the chief executive explained? I won't answer that, I just insist that it's an internal issue that has been filed. I didn't think about resigning because -like I said- things were treated forcefully.

I don't know if the president knew about it. If he says he didn't, he didn't. I can only say that I personally closed this case in April. I don't know if there's someone behind this like the president said. One should be in his place to know that. If he says so, he should know it.

The elections of 2010 are still a long way off. We are now taking care of leading this club, we have big challenges coming up, like the Liga, the Chammpions League and the World Cup for clubs, a trophy the club didn't win yet."

this is the fifth of ten parts on the case. the next part will cover the reactions of the other two vice-presidents involved. you can read the whole series here.


Read the previous parts of this series:
Barçagate (1) - El Periodico breaks the news
Barçagate (2) - Emergency press conference
Barçagate (3) - New revelations in the press
Barcagate (4) - Laporta speaks about spying claims


picture:
Barcelona sports vice-president Rafael Yuste -left- and Barcelona president Joan Laporta -right- on Thursday 24 September, the day Catalan newspaper El Periódico brought the story on the investigations

Cartoon 4: The spying goes on

...
Pepe! There's a man at the window spying on us!

Oliver
Yes, but I'm doing it for your good and for the good of Barça.

...
Now I understand what "More than a club" means: it's a sect!

(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by ferreres

source:
el periódico

see more cartoons here

Barcagate (4) - Laporta speaks about spying claims

More than two days after the publication of a report that Barcelona has been spying on four vice-presidents, Barcelona president Joan Laporta commented on the case on Saturday 26 September in the afternoon in Malaga, where Barcelona would play the fifth game of the Liga later that day:

"This happened in April, five months ago, and when I was informed, explanations were given and those were understood and accepted. The security audits were legal and were carried out to protect the people involved as well as the club.

There were certain suspicions that someone had tried to obtain personal information about the vice-presidents and we acted. We've turned the page and the chapter is closed.

People are exaggerating. It's obvious that some want me to sack certain people but they won't succeed. I won't give in to this blackmail. I want to make very clear that Joan Oliver is an intelligent man with a great work-rate, who is courageous and very competent.

He's one of the best general directors in the history of the club and one of the main architects of the good times this club is going through. I don't have any intention to let him go. I want him by my side. I fully trust him and this Barça needs him.

I didn't know about these audits. That decision was made by the chief executive and the head of security because it is within their authority. When they received the results, Oliver told me about it and I thought we had to inform the vice-presidents about this. The results were understood and accepted.

Now why does this reappear after five months? This is an election year and there are people who want to heat things up. And as we are now living the best moment in the history of the club, they don't have arguments for their own project and they just try to destabilize us.

And above that, they especially want to get me, because I have a certain way of thinking and I talk clear. There are intolerant people who don't accept this."

When opening the academic year of the School of Journalism at the Ramón Llull university in Barcelona on Wednesday 30 September, Laporta spoke a second time about the matter, basically repeating the same.

this is the fourth of six parts on the case. the next part will cover the reactions of the vice-presidents involved. you can read the whole series here.


Read the previous part of this series:
Barçagate (1) - El Periodico breaks the news
Barçagate (2) - Emergency press conference
Barçagate (3) - New revelations in the press


picture:
Barcelona president Joan Laporta -left- and Barcelona chief executive Joan Oliver -right- during Barcelona's Champions League game against Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday 29 september 2009

Cartoon 3: Messi and Henry make discovery

Messi:
This ball seems a little strange to me...
I guess they're not spying on us, right?

Henry:
I'm sure they're not spying on us.
At the most, they are carrying out a security audit.

(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by caye

source:
cayecaturas.com
sport.es

see more cartoons here