Oliver: "My bags are ready from day one"

Barcelona chief executive Joan Oliver gave an interview to Catalan sports paper Sport. Some excerpts.


Until when will you be at Barcelona?
Until tomorrow if that's necessary. My vision is very simple. I'm not tied to Jan Laporta.

Your time at the club will end together with the mandate of Laporta?
I have a labour contract and like everyone here that's for an undefined period. The club and I both can put an end to it in certain situations, like a change of the board.

And that means that...
I haven't considered leaving. But my bags are ready from day one. It's almost twenty years now that I'm working at high-profiled positions and that I'm dealing with controversy. I left all these jobs from one day to another. I know I'm around as long as it lasts. You can only do this job if you are ready to leave tomorrow.

You will follow Laporta in a possible move to the Catalan government?
With him? Who do you take me for? Never in my life I have thought about what I will do later. I've never thought about getting involved in politics. And now I don't see myself joining the project of Jan.

Will you stay if Soriano or Godall become president?
I don't worry about it and I'm not thinking about that. My job is exciting and when I leave I will keep on being happy. My bag is ready from day one and who doesn't want to understand this is wrong. Everything I do depends on the confidence of the president and his board. When I don't have that, I will say thanks and up to the next job.

Read more:
Chief executive obstacle for one board candidacy
Barçagate (2) - Emergency press conference
Cartoon: Oliver denies spying claims

interview: albert masnou - tomás andreu

The Catalan Cave: Sergi De Juan (El 9 Esportiu)

in this section, we ask catalan and spanish sports journalists five questions about the elections for president of fc barcelona. today: sergi de juan from catalan sports paper el 9 esportiu.


1. What will Ferran Soriano do?
I think that Ferran Soriano will run in the elections but he won't define his position until he has finished his job at Spanair and I don't think that will take long. Personally I think that he will join the continuity candidacy of Godall and that they are still negotiating. It is anyway clear to me that or he will be the number one or he will take part on his own.

2. Rosell's decision not to speak until the official calling of the elections is the right one?
Since the motion of no confidence was presented, Sandro Rosell has been working (in silence) to reach the presidency of FC Barcelona. Everything is very well calculated and prepared. I guess that if he still hasn't publicly presented his project, that is because that is what his advisors have recommended him but I think that he will do it soon because the date of the elections is now known (13 June). He also doesn't need to come out in public quickly because the club member of Barça already knows him and Sandro has been meeting during all this time with fan clubs and various club members.

3. How many candidates will there be on the ballot paper on 13 June?
I think there will be three candidacies if they all keep their word and don't make big alliances between them. The two continuity candidacies (Soriano+Godall and Jaume Ferrer) and that of Rosell. For the other pre-candidates, and those who will come out in the future, it will be very difficult to obtain the signatures.

4. Will Jaume Ferrer continue with his own candidacy?
There is speculation that he could close a deal with the group of Sandro Rosell, but he has said on more than one occasion that he intends to take part on his own. With the passage of time, we will see what he will do although at this moment he is working to run alone and he has an own campaign team.

5. Do you think it will be a tough campaign, between the candidates and/or in the media?
Unfortunately I think so. As it's clear not much will be changed regarding the sports area (they will all keep Guardiola), old personal grudges can get involved because most come from the board that won in 2003. Let's hope, for the good of the club and its image, that the candidates will talk about projects and that they don't play it dirty. It will be difficult.

THE EXTRAS As a club member of Barça, who will you vote for?
I still don't know it. First I have to know all the options and all the projects.

All your possessions are at stake. Give the top-3 of the elections on 13 June.
Right now all the polls say that Sandro Rosell goes ahead but you can never trust them completely ...

Thank you for this interview and your time. Good luck in covering the rest of the season and the elections.

read the previous episodes of this series:
francisco ávila (efe) - miquel pellicer (el mundo deportivo) - edu polo (ona fm) - abraham clotet (sport) - victor lozano (onda cero)

Weekly Round-Up (14): The Waiting Game

Every week an overview of the posts from this blog is published on Barcelona news site totalBarca.


New candidates are reportedly getting ready to enter the race for Barcelona president although the claims are somewhat unclear on whether these would be part of or separate from the various projects that have been reported in recent weeks.

Possible candidacies repeatedly mentioned include those of Catalan journalist Xavier Bosch, who again claimed that he has been offered to head a ticket, and former Barcelona player Carles Rexach, whose Facebook challenge is reportedly gathering momentum. Catalan journalist Josep Maria Minguella also recently confirmed that his group is organizing primaries and could announce a concrete candidacy soon.

>>> read the complete weekly round-up here

The Quote: Albert Perrin

"I might agree with the statement that Alfons Godall could in the end team up with Ferran Soriano. I know Godall for many years and he's someone who has difficulties to deal with the pressure."


Albert Perrín,
Barcelona institutional vice-president

read more election quotes here

All options are still open for Soriano

Asked if he will take part in the elections for president of FC Barcelona in June, former Barcelona economic vice-president Ferran Soriano has said in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC 1 that he is now thinking about what his role could be in the upcoming elections:

"I dont think this is the moment to make a lot of electoral noise. What the candidates are doing now is presenting themselves to the people, showing their face, talking a bit, but in my point of view things will really get interesting when people will explain their projects, when they will bring forward their ideas about what they want to do with Barça, the club we all love.

But so there's a lot of time left for that and I think it's better for everyone that we don't make too much noise now but that we instead have a lot of intense debates when the moment is there. But of course I respect the choice of everyone, this is just my opinion.

There's little truth in the rumours that link me to the candidacy of Alfons Godall. I know Alfons Godall because I have been many years at Barça together with him. To me, he seems an intelligent, honest and capable man. Just like I know Jaume Ferrer, who has also been there for quite a while. I'm talking with them, but there won't be anything concrete before everything starts.

Running for president, being part of a candidacy or staying at home and not taking part in an active way? All options are open for me at this moment. My focus on and my work for Spanair over the last month hasn't allowed me to think about other things.

Now I could do that and everything is possible. What you can expect from me is that I will take part in a constructive way, in favour of the club. I want to help Barça because I love this club a lot, like all of us. And fratricidal wars in the end don't help a lot.

I can clearly say that it's false that I would have signed a document that I could not take up a task at FC Barcelona while being the chairman of Spanair. It wouldn't make sense since my position at Spanair is compatible with other positions. And there are many examples of that.

Traditionally, the president of Barça or of Madrid is someone who also does something else to earn money. Like I said, there are many examples. Nothing happened to the company of Josep Lluís Núñez while he was president of Barça, noting happened to ACS because Mister Pérez is currently the president of Real Madrid, and so on.

Let's not forget that the president, the vice-presidents and the other directors of Barça don't get paid, so you need something besides that. As a consecuence, I could combine the post of president of Barça with that of chairman of Spanair. Nobody at Spanair has said me that I couldn't do that, and that wouldn't be reasonable either.

How is my current relationship with Barcelona president Joan Laporta? Correct. And with Sandro Rosell? I haven't seen or talked with Sandro for years now. In fact, there's a big difference between the two cases. I have worked toghether with Laporta for five years and Sandro has only been there for a very short period."

Read more:
Soriano could lead united board candidacy
What will the original 2003 board members do?
Soriano repeats wish to play role in elections

Ferrer has biggest media impact

A study by the Economics, Sport and Intangibles Research Group of the University of Navarra in Spain shows that Barcelona assets vice-president Jaume Ferrer is the presidential candidate who so far has got the most attention of the media.

As far as the period April 2009-February 2010 is concerned, Ferrer has received 25% of the media attention. Former sports vice-president Sandro Rosell and current first vice-president Alfons Godall are second and third in the ranking, with respectively 23,5% and 22,6%.

Barcelona treasurer Xavier Sala i Martín (9,8%), former economic vice-president Ferran Soriano (8,3%) and presidential candidates Jaume Guixà (6,6%) and Agustí Benedito (4,1%) are the other people who were included in the study. It should also be noted that the media impact of Barcelona president Joan Laporta was three times as big as that of Ferrer.

The study does not only take into account the appearances of the candidates in the traditional media but also includes the mentioning on websites, blogs and so on. The research group plans to follow the Barcelona elections and to measure the media impact of the candidates during the whole campaign.

Read more:
Ferrer: "Focus on America, Asia and Africa"
Media mogul rejects election involvement
Marketing expert: "It will be an Obama-type campaign"

Election program Rosell almost ready

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona presidencial candidate Sandro Rosell has almost finished his election program after numerous contacts with Barcelona fans and fan clubs.

Ninety per cent of the project of the former Barcelona sports vice-president would at this moment be ready and more contacts with people from the entourage of the club are planned for the months of March and April.

Catalan sports paper Sport meanwhile claims that Rosell will in the coming two weeks announce where his campaign headquarters will be. The offices would be situated very close to the Camp Nou stadium, although the option of the Princesa Sofia hotel would in the end have been excluded.

Read more:
Rosell could present project year after goal Iniesta
A biography of Sandro Rosell
Rosell: "Sport is a passion and a way of living"