Sala accuses Rosell of being behind opposition paper

Asked about some news reports in Catalan sports weekly paper Gol, Barcelona treasurer Xavier Sala i Martín has accused presidential candidate Sandro Rosell in a note on his Facebook page of being behind the paper:

"That pamphlet is Sandro's. The assistant director of this pamphlet is called Juanjo Gonzalez although, instead of facing up, this man is hiding behind the pseudonym Diego Valor.

According to confessions by Sandro himself that were published on 25 April 2006, among the people who convinced him to write the book 'Benvingut Al Món Real' there was Juanjo Gonzalez, whom he calls "a friend of mine and of my father".

So while they're telling the people they are playing it clean, the campaign of Sandro also consists of throwing dirt on the others through pamphlets such as this one or Pelikano [Barcelona news site]. But so they don't face up. Everybody is how he is. We are not doing it that way."

Read more:
Rosell organizing press dinners
Barcagate (9) - A crucial dinner
Sala: "Rosell was always on the wrong side"

Probable new director helping Benedito campaign

Barcelona site Pelikano claims that Catalan lawyer Xavier-Albert Canal (picture), who could be appointed as new member of Barcelona's board of directors at the end of this month (read more here), was part of the candidacy of Agustí Benedito.

Sources close to the presidential candidate would have told the site that Canal would already have been actively helping Benedito in the preparation of the elections, but would now nevertheless be willing to accept to become a board member for the coming months.

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo confirms that Canal has made the decision to enter the board if he is offered the post by Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who still has to decide between Canal and another lawyer (read more here).

Read more:
New board member to be appointed this month
Benedito: "We want to repeat the historical results"
The Board Movements (2003-2009)

Business partner Laporta in candidacy Godall

Barcelona news site Pelikano claims that Catalan lawyer Xavier Puig (picture, in the centre) will be part of the board team of current Barcelona first vice-president and presidential candidate Alfons Godall. Puig would become a vice-president in the next Barcelona board if Godall is elected as president.

Xavier Puig is a close business partner of Barcelona president Joan Laporta (picture, on the left). Puig is an associated partner in the Laporta & Arbós law firm, that was founded by the current Barcelona president, and is also chief executive of financial services company Financat, that is presided by Laporta.

Read more:
Board secretary Cubells to become vice-president
Godall: "I'm not the puppet of Laporta"
First female vice-president for Barcelona?

New board member to be appointed this month

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Catalan lawyer Xavier-Albert Canal (picture) will almost certainly be appointed as new director of FC Barcelona at the next board meeting on Friday 26 February.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta had reportedly proposed during one of the last limited board meetings to add a new member to the board who should not be part of any candidacy and who should stay at the club until the end of the term with the main task of keeping an eye on the correctness of the whole eletoral process.

Although there would have been a consensus during the general board meeting last Friday to nominate Jaume Alonso Cuevillas, a university professor of law, the latter was at the last minute vetoed by someone within the club.

Club sources told the paper that the veto came from Barcelona ombudsman Agustí Bassols. This is confirmed by Barcelona site Pelikano that claims that the position of Bassals was caused by an earlier business dispute with Cuevillas, whose appointment is said to have been strongly supported by Laporta and director Magda Oranich.

Everything would now indicate that Xavier-Albert Canal, a former president of the Catalan rugby federation, will become the new board member. Canal joined the disciplinary commission of FC Barcelona in October of last year. Before, he had already been a member of the club's sports commission.

Read more:
The Board Movements (2003-2009)
Vice-president Joan Franquesa resigns
First female vice-president for Barcelona?

Rosell plans embassador for foreign fan clubs

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claimed last week that Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell wants to create a new function within the social area of the club. José Maria Barnils (picture) would become the club's "Penyes' embassador" and would be the link between FC Barcelona and the fan clubs abroad.

Barnils confirmed the news in an interview with Barcelona opposition site Pelikano: "A while ago, during one of my trips to Barcelona, my friend Jordi Cardoner told me about the plans they had regarding the internationalization of Barça, which included encouraging the foreign fan clubs, club members and supporters.

Since I have lived abroad for over 20 years and I know the concerns and the problems foreign Barça fans can face, Jordi Cardoner asked me to work on the subject. It seemed an interesting and original project and that's why I gladly accepted his proposal.

If Sandro Rosell is elected president, I would become a member of the club's social commission as the 'correspondent' abroad with the function of being the contact person for the foreign fan clubs, their representative and all foreign club members and fans. I will help to promote the Barça brand abroad."

José Maria Barnils is a 45-year old Catalan lawyer, specialized in company law, who is living in Denmark for more than twenty years. His father, Carlos Barnils, was in the 1960s and 1970s the editor of 'Barça' and 'R.B.', two magazines that focused on FC Barcelona.

Read more:
Brother Rosell member of his campaign team
Rosell gives first interview ahead of elections
Team member Rosell talking about their project

Barcelona could give up Foster plan

Barcelona opposition site Pelikano claims that the club could be ready to give up the plan of remodelling the Camp Nou on the basis of a project by British architect Norman Foster because of electoral motives.

The results of the polls the club is carrying out among club members these days (read more here) would indicate that, although the majority wants a more modern stadium and is in favour of an urban development plan in the surroundings, they also think that because of the global economic crisis, this is not the right time to sell club assets like the Miniestadi to finance an expensive remodelling.

Asked about a new postponement of a deal between the club and the city of Barcelona on the land reclassification of the Miniestadi site, Barcelona first vice-president Alfons Godall seemed to suggest in an interview with Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia last weekend that the club could withdraw the plan:

"We feel treated badly by the authorities because there are constantly put new obstacles during the process of the reclassification and the conditions and terms that have been proposed have always been contrary to the interests of the club.

Either we find a fair solution or we should think about quitting, which would mean that we keep the current situation and, obviously, again start thinking about what the options are to have more modern facilities so the club members can have the stadium they deserve."

Read more:
More about Benedito: On Txiki and Camp Nou
Barcelona carrying out own election polls
More about Guixa: Politics and Camp Nou

Barcelona carrying out own election polls

Barcelona opposition site Pelikano reports that Barcelona is these days carrying out a poll through telephone interviews with club members. Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo confirms the news.

Although the interview is announced as a general inquiry into the satisfaction of the members, there are a lot of questions that could be inspired by the upcoming presidential elections next year. The club members are among other things asked about their voting behaviour in the 2003 elections and the 2008 vote of no confidence and are asked to evaluate people by giving them a score from 0 to 10.

The people included in the poll are the most important current directors of the club like Joan Laporta, Alfons Godall, Joan Boix, Jaume Ferrer, Rafael Yuste, Albert Perrín and Xavier Sala Martín, and former board members like Sandro Rosell and Ferran Soriano, but also former Barcelona president Josep Lluís Núñez and former Barcelona player and manager Johan Cruyff.

Opposition site Pelikano claims that the main intention of the interviews ordered by the club is to learn more about the profile and the ideas of the approximately 40.000 club members who will next year for the first time have the right to cast their vote in the presidential elections.

Read more:
Poll result: Who would you vote for today?
Poll result: Who should be the board candidate?

Council linked with Rosell working on ethical code

Last Thursday, the Consell Sènior Blaugrana (Blaugrana Senior Council) publicly presented itself during an event assisted by 100 to 150 people at the Princesa Sofía hotel in Barcelona.

The Consell Sènior Blaugrana wants to unite Barcelona club members who are older than 60 years and are a club member for more than 20 years. The objective of the Council is to provide ideas that can lead to a better management and a better public image of the club.

The executive committee of the Council consists of six people and is presided by Catalan business man Ramón Pont, who is rumoured to be part of the candidacy of former Barcelona sports vice-president Sandro Rosell (read more here). Rosell, who will run for president next year, assisted the event. The committee also includes the fathers of Rosell and of his right-hand man Josep Maria Bartomeu (see below).

The main focus of the Council is at this moment the elaboration of an ethical code for the club which should make the decisions taken by the club more transparent.

A first draft of the code has been drawn up by university professors Antonio Argandoña and Fermín Morales and is based on the principles of legality, honesty and service to the members, loyalty to the club, information and transparency, participation, pluralism and austerity.

Apart from giving some general criteria, the code would more concretely want to avoid certain specific acts, among which getting involved in conflicts of interest, putting pressure on others to obtain a decision in the benefit of oneself or of a third party, hiring relatives as an employee or a commercial partner, disclosing corporate decisions to third parties that are not involved, publicly or privately behaving in a way that damages the image of the club, accepting commissions and accepting gifts that can lead to a lack of objectivity.

The ultimate goal is that, after the upcoming presidential elections, this ethical code would become part of the club's by-laws and that an ethical commission would be put in place to safeguard the code by controlling and sanctioning the acts by the club's directors and executives. The commission would consist of six people and the president of the commission would be part of the board of directors.

Read more:
Rosell working on ethical code
Internet entrepreneur joins Rosell candidacy


members of the executive committee of the consell sènior blaugrana:

Josep Maria Bartomeu
chairman of the TEAM group
>>> father of Josep Maria Bartomeu, who is rumoured to be part of Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell’s team of directors

Ramón Garriga
former chief executive of the TÜV Rheinland group in Spain

Joan Granados
former chief executive of FC Barcelona and former general director of Catalan public media corporation CCRTV
>>> father of Roger Granados, who is rumoured to be part of Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell’s team of directors

Jordi Montané
chairman of the Pontex group

Ramón Pont
chairman of the Borges group
>>> rumoured to be part of Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell’s team of directors

Jaume Rosell
former secretary of FC Barcelona and chairman of the FAR group
>>> father of Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell


picture:
Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell (centre) with the six members of the executive committee of the Senior Blaugrana Council on Thursday 12 November in Barcelona. At Rosell's right hand, you see Ramón Pont, president of the Council, on Rosell's left hand side, you see his father Jaume Rosell.

sources: as, el 9 esportiu, el mundo deportivo, e-notícies, esadir.blogspot.com, pelikano, sport

Candidates compete for future board members

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona director Xavier Sala i Martín recently offered a club member to be part of his candidacy without knowing the person in question already joined the project of former Barcelona sports vice-president Sandro Rosell.

The "elder new technologies entrepreneur with a captivating profile", as the aforementioned person is described by the paper, felt in a way flattered by the proposal made by Sala i Martín but nevertheless kindly rejected the offer.

This story would be one more concrete example of how presidential candidates are competing to add valuable people to their team. Spanish television channel Intereconomía TV for example reported that several candidates sounded out Jordi Cardoner Casaus (picture, on the left), the grandson of former Barcelona vice-president Nicolau Casaus. Cardoner would in the end have chosen to join Rosell (read more here).

And while former Barcelona vice-president Gabriel Masfurroll would according to almost all media also join Rosell, Barcelona opposition site Pelikano claims that Masfurroll is still considering his participation in the elections but would certainly not be part of Rosell's candidacy (read more here).

With the possibility of two candidacies coming from the current board, one lead by Barcelona first vice-president Alfons Godall (and/or Sala i Martín), and the other by Barcelona marketing vice-president Jaume Ferrer (read more here), there would also be an internal battle ongoing within the board to attract the most board members.

All media have in the past weeks drawn up their own lists, that all have their small differences but all agree that there are still a few directors left who are in doubt. Spanish newspaper El País claims that up to five board members still didn't make a decision on who they would support: Josep Cubells, Magda Oranich, Joan Boix, Maria Elena Fort and Patrick Auset

Read more:
The Rosell Project - Part 4: The Board (2)
Son of former president denies election involvement

The Rosell Project - Part 4: The Board (2)

In June 2008, former Barcelona sports vice-president Sandro Rosell announced at a press conference that he would take part in the next presidential elections. Last month, he confirmed in an interview with Catalan radio station Ràdio Barcelona that nothing had changed since that announcement.

Despite the fact that Rosell reportedly decided not to start campaigning before the end of this year (and maybe not even before the elections are called), he would be close to finishing his program. Several media have in the past weeks reported on his project. This blog will give an overview of what has been published so far.


After a long selection process, Rosell would be almost ready with the composition of what will be his board if he would become the next president of FC Barcelona. Rosell might still be looking for a strong figure who could become economic vice-president. Besides the nine names that will almost certainly be part of Rosell's board (read more here), several other people are rumoured to be among the candidates. An overview.


Women:

Rosell would have selected three women who he wants as director in his board. At least two of them will effectively be part of his candidacy. Pilar Guinovart, head of external relations of the guild of restaurant owners of Barcelona, would become the board member responsible for the social area.


Current vice-president:

Catalan television channel TV3 claimed that it's not excluded that one of the four Barcelona vice-presidents that have been involved in the Barcagate case could join Rosell. People of Rosell's entourage reportedly nevertheless told Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo that this option has almost become impossible because none of them has resigned after they discovered the investigations.


Former vice-president:

Several media claim that Gabriel Masfurroll, chairman and managing director of USP Hospitals, a network of private hospitals in Spain, southern Europe and Morocco, could be part of Rosell's candidacy. Masfurroll is a former Barcelona board member under Josep Lluís Núñez and a presidential candidate in 2000. He was vice-president under Joan Gaspart until he resigned in December 2002.

One year ago, Masfurroll said in an interview with Spanish news site noticias.com that he already agreed with Sandro Rosell on a possible partnership in the coming elections shortly after the latter left the board in 2005: "If Sandro wants me to join him, I will be delighted to do so. And if not, I will stay at home, no hard feelings. I would have liked to run for president myself, but I came to the conclusion that it's not worth it."

On Thursday 8 October, Rosell assisted the presentation of a new book written by Masfurroll. Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez was also present. Asked about the upcoming elections, Rosell didn't want to enter the questions of the journalists: "Wait and see."

The media nevertheless don't seem able to agree on what Masfurroll's role might be: he could become board member, he could become involved in the club's foundation or he could play no role at all. Talks between Rosell and Masfurroll would still be ongoing and one media even reports that Masfurroll could join another candidate or not take part in the elections, hoping the winner would then offer him a post afterwards.


Other possible board members:

- Ricardo Rodrigo, chairman of the RBA Group, a communication company that, among other things, publishes popular magazines like 'Lecturas' and 'Semana', as well as the Spanish edition of 'National Geographic'.

- Roger Granados, lawyer.

- Josep Maria Prat, director of classical music promotor Ibercamera.

- Marc Ros, general director of marketing and advertising agency Aftershare.tv.

- José Daurella, chairman of bottling company Cobega, that is authorized to manufacture and sell products of the Coca-Cola Company in large areas of Spain.

- Jordi Mestre, chairman of the Expo Group, a chain of Spanish hotels and resorts, among which the Princesa Sofia hotel close to the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona.

- Jordi Calsamiglia, lawyer specialized in sports law.

- Josep Ramón Vidal, architect.


this is the fourth and last part of this series. you can read the whole series here.


Read the previous parts:
The Rosell Project - Part 1: The Club
The Rosell Project - Part 2: The Team
The Rosell Project - Part 3: The Board (1)

Pilar Guinovart

Gabriel Masfurroll

Ricardo Rodrigo

Roger Granados

Josep Maria Prat

Marc Ros

sources for this series:
el mundo deportivo, sport, el 9 esportiu, as, gol, noticias.com, pelikano, britcorner, intereconomía tv, tv3, rac 1, ràdio barcelona, radio marca, catalunya ràdio and own research

Introducing Benedito (1): The candidate

Earlier this month, Catalan business man Agustí Benedito announced his intention to take part in next year's elections for president of FC Barcelona. This blog will give an introduction on the pre-candidate in the coming week.


Benedito, who had resigned from his post at the club in March of this year (read more in the third part of this series), would already have been preparing his candidacy for months and since the summer, there had been speculation about his plans.

During the second half of the month of September, several media claimed that Benedito had made the decision to be a candidate. On 25 September, Catalan weekly paper El Triangle reported that an announcement would follow soon.

On Thursday 8 October, Benedito then came with the official confirmation that he would run for president. Although he said the announcement was made to avoid further speculation, it seems clear that Benedito was trying to gain some momentum in the preparation of his candidacy.

Catalan sports paper El 9 Esportiu claims that Benedito, who wouldn't have plans to link up with another candidate, is also already keeping an eye on the following presidential elections, that will in theory be held in 2016.

His ideas
So far, Benedito has only given a short preview of his plans, while declaring he will present his full project when the election process wil officially be launched.

Everyone seems nevertheless to agree that the core of his campaign will be the recovery of the values of the "Elefant Blau" (Blue Elephant), the opposition group of which Benedito was one of the founders in the late 1990s, alongside -among others- current Barcelona president Joan Laporta.

Benedito demonstrated this by already revealing the key words of his campaign in his letter to Spanish news agency EFE: "Transparency, participation of the club members, good governance and honesty".

He added that his team would lead the club "from a full but non-political catalanism, always looking for the support and the involvement of the many Barcelona fans in and outside Catalonia."

His people
Benedito, who is still looking for support, defined the people he's working with as follows: "I will finalize my project together with a diligent, pluralistic and open-minded team - people with proven management skills in business, sports and social areas - because I understand the social importance of Barça and because I know the values that an entity like this needs to be able to transmit: effort, will to improve and responsibility."

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claimed already last month that Benedito is supported by a group of around 400 people and that he is planning to contact the Catalan political parties shortly to present them his project. Catalan sports paper Sport reports that Benedito has been surrounding himself with a group of ambitious young businessmen.

Barcelona opposition site Pelikano claims that Benedito contacted this summer former "Elefant Blau" members like Aymerich, Carrasco, Canal, Geli, Sola, Salinas, Castellet, Latorre or Bonet, to ask them if they were interested in joining him in this new project.

this is the first part of a four-parts series. the next part will cover benedito's personal, professional and blaugrana background. you can read the whole series here.


Read more:
Agusti Benedito to run for president
Who will be the next president of FC Barcelona?



picture: germán rodríguez rosas

The Rosell Project - Part 3: The Board (1)

In June 2008, former Barcelona sports vice-president Sandro Rosell announced at a press conference that he would take part in the next presidential elections. Last month, he confirmed in an interview with Catalan radio station Ràdio Barcelona that nothing had changed since that announcement.

Despite the fact that Rosell reportedly decided not to start campaigning before the end of this year (and maybe not even before the elections are called), he would be close to finishing his program. Several media have in the past weeks reported on his project. This blog will give an overview of what has been published so far.


Several names have already been put forward as possible board members. On Tuesday 6 October, Catalan television channel TV3 revealed ten names of people (Rosell included) who would be part of the next Barcelona board of directors if Sandro Rosell would be chosen as president.

Asked about the story, one of the people mentioned, Carles Vilarrubí, confirmed in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC 1 that this list was correct: "It's true that I am part of the project of Sandro Rosell. And the names that have been put forward are the correct ones."


Former board members who left the club in 2005, at or around the same time as Rosell:

- Josep Maria Bartomeu, would become sports vice-president.

- Jordi Moix, would become the director responsible for the assets administration.

- Xavier Faus, would become economic vice-president.

- Jordi Monés, would become the director responsible for the medical services.


New board members:

- Ramón Pont, chairman of the Borges Group, producers of, among other things, several varieties of olive oil.

- Jordi Cardoner Casaus, the grandson of the popular former Barcelona vice-president (for over 20 years) Nicolau Casaus. Cardoner, who last month confirmed he is part of Rosell's project during an interview with Catalan radio station Catalunya Ràdio, was reportedly wanted by several presidential candidates. He would become the director responsible for the social area, possibly as vice-president.

- Manel Arroyo, managing director of Dorna Sports, an international sports management and marketing company, that is among other things the exclusive holder of all commercial and television rights of the MotoGP World Championship since 1992.

- Carles Vilarrubí, financial entrepreneur involved in telecom, media, hotels and investment banking, vice-chairman of the Rothschild Bank Spain and president of the Jumping Owner's Club of the FEI, the international governing body of equestrian sports.

- Javier Bordas, hospitality and entertainment enterpreneur, chief executive of the Costa Este Group, among other things owner of the Sotavento Beach Club and the Opium Mar night club in Barcelona.


this is the third part of a four-parts series. the next and last part will cover the people who are rumoured to possibly also be part of rosell's board. you can read the whole series here.


Read the previous parts of this series:
The Rosell Project - Part 1: The Club
The Rosell Project - Part 2: The Team

Josep Maria Bartomeu

Jordi Moix

Xavier Faus

Jordi Monés

Ramón Pont

Jordi Cardoner Casaus, with his grandfather Nicolau Casaus
(copyright picture: jordi cardoner casaus)

Manel Arroyo

Carles Vilarrubí

Javier Bordas

sources for this series:
el mundo deportivo, sport, el 9 esportiu, as, gol, pelikano, britcorner, intereconomía tv, tv3, rac 1, ràdio barcelona, radio marca, catalunya ràdio and own research

The Rosell Project - Part 2: The Team

In June 2008, former Barcelona sports vice-president Sandro Rosell announced at a press conference that he would take part in the next presidential elections. Last month, he confirmed in an interview with Catalan radio station Ràdio Barcelona that nothing had changed since that announcement.

Despite the fact that Rosell reportedly decided not to start campaigning before the end of this year (and maybe not even before the elections are called), he would be close to finishing his program. Several media have in the past weeks reported on his project. This blog will give an overview of what has been published so far.


Guardiola
Rosell fully supports the working methods and ideas of Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola, who will stay on as Barcelona manager if he wishes so. Guardiola will be given more decision power, for example regarding the transfers and the youth academy, and would become a 'British-style' manager.

Sports director
The position of sports director will disappear in the new club structure, which would mean that current Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain will have to leave the club.

Incoming transfers
Rosell will start working on the transfers during the first months of next year. The transfer operations will also depend on the financial situation of the club, on which Rosell has some doubts (read more here).

Cesc
Although several media have claimed that Rosell would already have an agreement with Arsenal midfielder and former Barcelona youth player Cesc Fàbregas (22), both the player (in public) and Rosell (in private) have denied there would be a deal.

Robinho
If Guardiola wishes to sign Manchester City winger Robinho (25) next summer, Rosell would be confident the deal can be done. As former Nike executive in Brazil, Rosell still follows the local market closely and has good contacts in the South-American country.

Puyol
Barcelona captain Carles Puyol (31) is seen as a club icon and will therefore be offered to become part of the club's coaching staff once his career has ended. This would not be linked to Puyol's upcoming decision to renew his expiring contract or to leave the club next summer.

African youth players
Rosell wants to focus more on African players and therefore wants to develop and open youth academies on that continent.

this is the second part of a four-parts series. the next part will cover the people who could be part of rosell's board. you can read the whole series here.


Read the first part of this series:
The Rosell Project - Part 1: The Club


sources for this series:
el mundo deportivo, sport, el 9 esportiu, as, gol, pelikano, britcorner, intereconomía tv, tv3, rac 1, ràdio barcelona, radio marca and own research

The Rosell Project - Part 1: The Club

In June 2008, former Barcelona sports vice-president Sandro Rosell announced at a press conference that he would take part in the next presidential elections. Last month, he confirmed in an interview with Catalan radio station Ràdio Barcelona that nothing had changed since that announcement.

It is believed that Rosell started preparing his candidacy shortly after he resigned as Barcelona director in June 2005. Rosell would at this moment be working with a group of close to 100 people to organize his campaign. During monthly meetings with his closest entourage, the election program is being finalized.

On Thursday 1 October, Rosell met with 30 club members - Catalan delegates of the advisory council - at the La Camarga restaurant in Barcelona to explain them his project and to listen to their wishes. Two days later, after the league match against Almería on Saturday 3 October, Rosell met with delegates of the advisory council from outside Catalonia in his campaign offices. During both meetings, Rosell would have made a good impression on the fans.

Despite the fact that Rosell reportedly decided not to start campaigning before the end of this year (and maybe not even before the elections are called), he would be close to finishing his program. Several media have in the past weeks reported on his project. This blog will give an overview of what has been published so far.


Financial situation
Rosell wants to control the books of the club because he thinks they don't reflect the real situation of the club. There would be more debts than have been been made public.

Economic austerity
Rosell wants to reduce the spending of the club. One of the concrete measures would be to withdraw all credit cards that are being used by club directors and high executives. The number of employees will be limited, as well as their salary and some of their privileges.

Code of ethics
Members of the board will have to cumply with an ethical code in order to maintain the good name of the club.

Senate of Dignitaries
An assembly of distinguished club members will be created, with the core being the oldest socis. This assembly would be another means to safeguard the reputation of the club.

Dismissals
The contract of Barcelona chief executive Joan Oliver would be put to an end. One source claimed that also Barcelona head of external relations Manel Estiarte could have to leave the club, although people from the entourage of Rosell have reportedly denied this.

Political stands
Rosell will eliminate all political elements from his election program. He doesn't want the club to take radical positions regarding Catalan independency and wants to focus on sporting matters.

this is the first part of a four-parts series. the next part will cover the plans of rosell regarding the team (the coaching staff and the players). you can read the whole series here.


Read more:
Who will be the next president of FC Barcelona?


sources for this series:
el mundo deportivo, el 9 esportiu, pelikano, gol, intereconomía tv, tv3, rac 1, ràdio barcelona and own research

Barçagate (3) - New revelations in the press

In the hours and days after the publication by Catalan sports paper El Periódico of the report saying that Barcelona had been spying on four vice-presidents and the following press conference by Barcelona chief executive Joan Oliver explaining the version of the club, several media revealed new -and sometimes contradicting- details about what happened in March and April of this year.


1. What was in the security audit report?

Catalan newspaper El Periódico suggests they had access to the reports by describing that every page of the reports wears the logo of detective agency Método 3 and that they have an annex with copies of official documents.

The audits would have been ordered by Oliver, although it was a member of the club's security department who contacted the agency. The reports were ready after three weeks. To draw up the reports, people of the entourage of the four directors were discretely interviewed and official documents were looked at. The targets were not followed or spied upon.

The agency reportedly found flaws and a few irregularities regarding all vice-presidents, although all of these would be of minor importance. The audit has information on the business and economical activities of the investigated persons, their properties and their legal and tax situation. There is no reference to the fact that one of them could be being investigated by third persons.

There would be no references to the personal lives of the vice-presidents, except one mentioning of a legal dispute one of the four has with his former mother-in-law regarding the ownership of a company. Spanish sports paper As nevertheless claims that the reports include some very intimate details about the private lives of the directors.

Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia claims that vice-president Joan Franquesa was totally cleared by the background check. Although the other three vice-presidents (Joan Boix, Jaume Ferrer and Rafael Yuste) are convinced they are also clean, one of them would have some weak points.

2. What was the reason for the investigations, who found out and what happened when it was found out?

- Catalan radio station Catalunya Ràdio claims that it was Barcelona vice-president Joan Franquesa who asked the club to carry out a security audit to see if he would be able to run for president in 2010. Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo confirmed this version of the events. Madrid sports paper As claims that Franquesa contacted Barcelona head of security Xavier Martorell.

Barcelona chief executive Joan Oliver would then have decided on his own to also investigate the other three vice-presidents who could be a candidate in the elections.

During the investigations, Barcelona vice-president Jaume Ferrer reportedly found out something was going on and asked Barcelona president Joan Laporta for an explication. During a tense meeting, during which both men unconfirmedly would even have gotten physical, it was agreed that the vice-presidents would from now on be better informed about the club's activities.

- Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia on the other hand reports that the investigations were discovered when vice-president Franquesa saw a newspaper report about his person and was advised by his lawyer to investigate this. Two weeks later, his lawyer reportedly told him: "It's Barça who is investigating you."

Franquesa contacted Martorell, who confirmed him that Oliver had ordered the investigation. The matter was discussed at a board meeting, during which several board members asked for the dismissal of Oliver. Others directors wanted to resign themselves and put the case in the hands of the police.

- Catalan radio station RAC 1 reports that Ferrer was close to attacking Oliver during a meeting which also involved the three other vice-presidents.

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo says that Martorell offered to resign, which in the end didn't happen. The security audits also wouldn't have been handed immediately to the four people concerned, but only after those explicitly demanded this when they found out about the investigations.

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that one of the vice-presidents considered to step down. El Mundo Deportivo says that this was Franquesa, who still would be considering to leave before the end of this board's term next year.

In the end the case was settled, in the benefit of the club. Madrid sports paper As claims that at least one of the vice-presidents is nonetheless still convinced that Laporta knew about the investigations beforehand.

Barcelona opposition news site Pelikano claims, based upon sources close to the board, that Laporta set up the whole operation, trying to torpedo a possible candidacy of Ferrer, who is not the favourite of the president to succeed him but who has the support of the majority of the board members. Ferrer would therefore have been the main target of the investigations.

In the margin
Spanish newspaper El País reported that Barcelona chief executive Oliver and Barcelona board member Xavier Sala i Martín own a consultancy company together. As was already known before, both men are also members of Catalunya Oberta, a right-wing think-tank. Sala replied on Facebook that the company is in fact a charity organization, so that they cannot be seen as business partners.

this is the third of ten parts on the case. the next parts will cover the reactions of the president and the board members 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


picture:
Barcelona chief executive Joan Oliver -left- and Barcelona marketing vice-president Jaume Ferrer -right- talking on Thursday 24 September, the day Catalan newspaper El Periódico brought the story on the investigations