Rosell working on ethical code

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo reports that the Consell Senior Blaugrana (Senior Blaugrana Council) will meet for the first time next Thursday at the Princesa Sofía hotel in Barcelona.

The council was created by Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell after several contacts with veteran club members (read more here) and should lay the basis for a new ethical club code with the goal of checking if all the actions by board members or club executives are fully justified.

This council should ultimately become an official club organ, as are now for example the club's Economic Commission and the Overseers Committee. Rosell, who plans to assist next week's meeting together with some of his closest collaborators, would therefore propose to change the club's by-laws if he gets elected president.

Read more:
Rosell worried about 'rich kid' image
The Rosell Project - Part 1: The Club

Soriano: "I'm not part of any candidacy for now"

Asked about his rumoured participation in next year's presidential elections (read more here), former Barcelona economic vice-president and current chairman of Spanish airline Spanair Ferran Soriano has said in an interview with Catalan newspaper Avuí that he didn't yet decide what his role will be:

"At this moment, Spanair doesn't leave me any time to think about Barça, nor am I already part of any candidacy. But when the election process starts, I will try to contribute to a constructive debate because an internal battle would certainly damage the club."

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

The Board, 6-7 Years Later (2) : The movements

Since Joan Laporta became president of FC Barcelona, the composition of the board of directors has been changing permanently. An overview.

2003
On 22 June 2003, one week after the elections, a new Barcelona board takes office. President Joan Laporta leads a group of 15 directors that include 5 vice-presidents (Albert Vicens, Sandro Rosell, Ferran Soriano, Alfons Godall and Marc Ingla) and 9 directors (Josep Maria Bartomeu, Xavier Cambra, Alfons Castro, Josep Cubells, Jaume Ferrer, Jordi Moix, Jordi Monés, Toni Rovira and Clàudia Vives-Fierro).

One month later, on 22 July, Javier Faus joins the board.

2004
On 24 February, Laporta's brother-in-law Alejandro Echevarría is appointed as director.

2005
On 31 May 2005, Jordi Monés resigns because of the presidentialist attitude of Laporta. He is followed by Josep Maria Bartomeu, Sandro Rosell and Jordi Moix on 2 June. It is the outcome of a conflict that had existed for more than a year. Javier Faus, who was believed to be close to the other four, leaves the board on 27 June.

On 12 July, Joan Boix and Joan Franquesa become members of the board. That way the board again consists of 14 members, the minimum number of directors the club should have according to the club's by-laws.

On 20 October, Alejandro Echevarría leaves the club. Although Laporta had supported his brother-in-law after the accusations that the latter was a member of a foundation dedicated to the life and works of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, Echevarría resigned because of the media pressure.

On 29 November, Rafael Yuste and Albert Perrín become members of the board, followed, on 13 december, by Evarist Murtra and Josep Lluís Vilaseca.

2006
-

2007
On 5 October, Jacint Borràs joins the board.

On 27 November, Jaume Ferrer is appointed as vice-president.

2008
On 10 July, Albert Vicens, Ferran Soriano, Marc Ingla, Xavier Cambra, Toni Rovira, Clàudia Vives-Fierro, Josep Lluís Vilaseca and Evarist Murtra resign because they don"t agree with the reaction of Laporta after the vote of no confidence a few days earlier.

On 28 July, Josep Antonio Colomer, Jordi Torrent and Maria Elena Fort are chosen as new board members. Joan Boix, Joan Franquesa and Rafael Yuste are appointed as vice-presidents.

On 13 August, Patrick Auset and Xavier Bagués join the board.

2009
On 27 March, Josep-Ignasi Macià is appointed as new director, followed by Xavier Sala i Martín and Magda Oranich on 23 April.

this is the second part of a three-parts series on the composition of fc barcelona's board of directors since joan laporta became president. the next part will list all board members over the past years. read the whole series here.


Read the first part of the series:
The Board, 6-7 Years Later (1) : Five directors left

Read more:
Laporta could step down before elections



picture:
Board members (from left to right) Marc Ingla, Toni Rovira, Ferran Soriano, Claudià Vives-Fierro, Josep Lluís Vilaseca, Evarist Murtra and Xavier Cambra, listening to the resignation speech by Albert Vicens at the press room of the Camp Nou on 10 july 2009.

Former vice-president hints at Rosell partnership

Asked about his links with Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell (read more here), former Barcelona vice-president Gabriel Masfurroll has suggested today in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC 1 that he will be part of the candidacy of Rosell in the upcoming elections for president of Barcelona:

"In principle I could confirm that it's possible that I will be part of his candidacy, but Sandro is the one who has to say this. The moment will come in which he will present his candidacy and give the names.

I can confirm that I have a friendship relation with Sandro Rosell, he's someone I like and respect. We have talked about things but nothing should be said now. Because that would be starting the election campaign, something that should only happen when the elections are called. Now we have to support the team."

Gabriel Masfurroll is the chairman and managing director of USP Hospitals, a network of private hospitals in Spain, southern Europe and Morocco. He is a former Barcelona board member under Josep Lluís Núñez and was a presidential candidate in 2000. He was vice-president under Joan Gaspart until he resigned in December 2002.

Read more:
The Rosell Project - Part 4: The Board (2)
Candidates compete for future board members

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

Most read this week

these were the three most read blog posts of the past week:


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

2.
Barcelona wants to tie down Ribery before elections

3.
Introducing Benedito (1): The candidate

Introducing Benedito (4) : The affair too much (2)

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


Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday 18 February 2009, Barcelona president Joan Laporta talked about his involvement in an attempt to sell Spanish footbal club Mallorca, which was revealed one day earlier by Spanish newspaper El Mundo:

"It's a professional matter. The company Binipuntiró, the main shareholder of Real Mallorca, has financial problems and they contacted my office to help them with the sale. We looked around and found a client who was interested and who made an offer on the condition of an audit of the entity.

It became clear that what the seller asked for the shares was a price that, according to our client, wasn't correct, so the deal didn't go through. Since this was a professional assignment, it's normal that my office receives a fee for the legal services that were provided.

Our law firm always examines if the cases we are offered don't interfere with my function as president of FC Barcelona but in this case it was decided that there was no incompatibility at all, so the conduct of my office was lawful, legal and professional.

The way the report was published suggests that my firm has tried to hide its involvement but there are legal and public documents about this since the seller had insolvency problems. We haven't tried to hide anything. But some state media are particularly fond of me.

I just try to do my job and I don't care about others trying to prevent me from doing that. I want to make a living out of my job, in an honest and responsible way, which is what I did in this case."

Two weeks later, Laporta repeated his defense in an interview with Spanish business paper Expansión: "Being the president of Barça, gives you a lot of possibilities to mix with people but not to do business.

But where's the line? In my case, I have a law firm and I assist companies, like Mallorca, that had financial problems and asked me to look for a buyer. I found one in Uzbekistan but the operation didn't go through."


Despite the explanations of Laporta, the involvement of Laporta was the reason that led Agustí Benedito to resign as member of the club's social commission on Thursday 26 February.

In a letter to the president, quoted by former Barcelona's head of communication Jordi Badia on his blog, Benedito explained the reasons for his decision: "This news has been the biggest disappointment in my life. Over the years, I have maintained my beliefs and they now prevent me from continuing with you. Despite the fact that this wasn't easy, I have been loyal until the end."

Speaking to Spanish news agency EFE, Benedito said: "What has happened is against the spirit with which 'El Elefant Blau' was founded (read more here). I belonged to the core of this movement that fought for a different Barça.

I've always stood by the side of Joan Laporta, even at the time of the vote of no confidence last summer, and I've defended him with everything I had. But now I feel that this attempt of trying to obtain a fee for the sale of Mallorca has nothing to do with the Laporta from a few years ago."

EFE claimed that Benedito had been close to be appointed as director of the club around the time of his exit but that the appointment didn't went through in the end. Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo had already reported in September 2008 that Benedito was rumoured to be a candidate to join the board soon.

Club sources were quoted by EFE as saying that they thought this had been the main reason for his decision, something that Benedito denied to the agency and in an interview with Catalan newspaper Avuí one week later:

"Everybody who knows me, knows that this is ridiculous. This just indicates they have no arguments to defend what cannot be defended. I've voluntarily worked for the club for many years.

I know that I have been rumoured to become a director, several board members told me they wanted me to join, but the president never spoke about it with me. And I thank him for not having made me a director because this would otherwise have been an even more difficult situation for me.

I have resigned because I think that the president of Barça has mislead the club members when he said last summer that he and no one from his board did business in the world of football.

And by doing that he didn't only betray a leading principle of the 'Elefant Blau' but also of our way of acting for many years. In my view, it's not ethical for a president to enrich himself in such a way. It's clear he betrayed those principles and that he lied. That's why I resign."

this is the fourth part of a five-parts series. the next part will be the video in which benedito presents himself as presidential candidate. you can read the whole series here.


Read the previous parts of this series:
Introducing Benedito (1): The candidate
Introducing Benedito (2): The man, the culé
Introducing Benedito (3) : The affair too much


picture: germán rodríguez rosas