Molins rejects offer to lead Minguella-Medina project

Spanish news agency Europa Press claims that Catalan lawyer Pablo 'Pau' Molins has rejected yesterday morning the offer to head the candidacy that is being set up by former Barcelona presidential candidates Josep Maria Minguella and Jordi Medina.

Molins is quoted as saying in a communiqué that, although he likes the idea of a 'third way', he declines the proposal because of professional and personal reasons that don't leave him enough time to campaign or to lead the club. Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that the criminal lawyer has nevertheless agreed to support the list.

Asked about the rumours linking Molins to his project, former player's agent Josep Maria Minguella has said in interviews with Catalan radio stations Catalunya Ràdio, first, and RAC 1 that he doesn't want to react to the latest news reports:

"Our group has made the decision that until the game against Real Madrid on 10 April we won't talk about or comment on any electoral issues. After that date, we will explain what we could do, who would be involved and so on, but for now we have decide not to talk anymore."

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Minguella-Medina project still looking for a leader

Although all media sources agree that Catalan lawyer Pau Molins [picture] has been offered to head the candidacy that is being set up by former Barcelona presidential candidates Josep Maria Minguella and Jordi Medina (read more here), there is uncertainty about his reaction to the proposal.

Spanish news agency Europa Press claims that sources close to Molins confirmed that the lawyer, who feels "very related to the club", is thinking about the offer and that he wants to take the time necessary to make the decision, which could be more than one week.

Catalan newspaper El Periódico claims that Molins, who would be very interested in the proposal, will decide in one or two weeks time. The offer would have been made to him last week during a meeting with Minguella and a group of club members.

Catalan news site E-notícies claims that Minguella, Medina and Molins had a dinner on Thursday 19 February. The answer would be expected for next week. If Molins accepts the offer, Minguella would become the sports vice-president of the list and Medina the social vice-president.

A source close to the Minguella-Medina project confirmed yesterday evening to this blog that there has indeed been an offer but that Molins didn't yet give a final answer. We were also told that, contrary to previous news reports (read more here), Catalan businessman Jordi Roche, the former president of the Catalan football federation, would not be part of this project.

Spanish news agency EFE claims that it looks like the deal with Molins won't go through - despite a source of the project being quoted as saying that the lawyer would be "a very valid" candidate - because Molins wouldn't be able to combine the campaign with his job. His defense of Catalan business man Fèlix Millet in a major corruption scandal (read more here) could also play a role: "That wouldn't be positive publicity in case he would be our candidate."

The group would now keep on working to find a candidate and announce a name in the next two to three weeks, with the source explaining: "The offer to Molins doesn't mean that we already have a clear idea, because we still have to assess a lot of things, not only about the candidate but also about the rest of the team.

I want to make clear that we are not selling the leadership of our group by auction. We are just talking with a lot of people and, for whatever reason, the names of two [the other being that of catalan journalist xavier bosch] of the many members we have considered have been leaked to the public."

Catalan sports paper El 9 Esportiu claims that Molins already rejected the offer to lead the candidacy because of professional reasons – the Millet case and the opening of a new office in Madrid - but that he did accept to be part of the list. The group would continue to search for a prestigious consensus figure to become the candidate.

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Molins has already rejected the offer and that Medina and Minguella continue to look for a candidate that has never before been directly involved in an election process, although it's not excluded that one of the two would in the end be the candidate. The final list should be ready in April.

Medina is quoted by the paper as saying: "We want to assemble a project that could be a third way between laportas and anti-laportistas and that unites the Barcelona fans. That's why the choice of the candidate isn't a fight and won't turn into an auction. We're not in a hurry, there's a lot of pre-campaign and campaign left and we don't want to take part in the battles."

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Lawyer offered to lead Minguella-Medina project

Catalan television channel TV3 claims that the candidacy former Barcelona presidential candidates Josep Maria Minguella and Jordi Medina have been working on continues to look for a popular person who could lead the project (read more here).

The group of Minguella and Medina would now have offered 47-year old Catalan criminal lawyer Pau Molins (picture) to head the list, although no final decision has yet been made.

Pau Molins is at this moment widely known for his defense of Catalan businessman and former Barcelona director Fèlix Millet in a major corruption scandal (read more here). His brother, businessman and politician Joaquim Molins, has in the past reportedly also been offered to lead a candidacy, ahead of the 1997 elections.

Read more:
Minguella project preparing primaries
Former director Millet considers being candidate
Medina continues to work on candidacy