The Quote: Alfons Godall

"This evening I've met FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta. There was no need to say anything. I felt hugely comforted. Friends are forever..."


Alfons Godall,
Barcelona first vice-president

read more election quotes here

[2003] Majo talking with Van Nistelrooy

source: el mundo deportivo, saturday 26 april 2003, page 55

Jordi Majó contacts Van Nistelrooy

Sergi Bruguera, his sports director, revealed that he met with the agent but made clear that "there is no agreement"

Ruud van Nistelrooy is the first bomb in the pre-election campaign. Former tennis player Sergi Bruguera, who would be sports director of Barça in case Jordi Majó wins the election on 22 June, revealed yesterday on Cadena SER that he met this week with Rodger Linse, representative of the Dutch striker of Manchester United, but denied there was a principle agreement for a future transfer to the Catalan club.

"He came to the Juventus game and I had dinner with him two times. We have not reached any agreement but it was a first contact to know what philosophy the player has and what he thinks about Barcelona. At the same time I explained what would be our way of working," acknowledged Bruguera, who confirmed the strong interest in Van Nistelrooy: "He shares our way of seeing football and because of his way of seeing it and of how he works, he is one of those we like most."

Bruguera said the agent of the Dutch star player "knows him very well since he is 17 years old and they are friends, and he told me he would like to play in Spain some day. At first he was skeptical about meeting us but everything went well." The former tennis player wanted to clarify that "this is the only thing that has happened. There is nothing more."

At a personal level, Bruguera said that "I'm a fan of Van Nistelrooy for his character and his involvement. Besides, he is the only one at ManU who stays after the training to work with weights in the gym." Van Nistelrooy has a contract until 2006 and he arrived at United in 2001 from PSV, that received 30 million euros.

check more 2003 election stories

Three candidates take part in radio show

This Friday, Barcelona presidential candidates Agustí Benedito [2nd from the left], Jaume Guixà [2nd from the right] and Alexis Plaza [3rd from the right] all three took part in a radio show on Catalan radio station COM Ràdio.

Catalan businessman Manel Arroyo [on the left], who will be part of the board team of Sandro Rosell, and Catalan doctor Miquel Llobet [on the right], who will be part of the candidacy of Santiago Salvat, were also present.

Salvat confirms that he will run for president

Asked if the reports in the press that he will run for president of FC Barcelona are true, Catalan businessman Santiago Salvat has confirmed the news on his Facebook page:

"Of course it's true! I am proud to head a renewal project that brings together a large group of Barcelona fans that are full of enthusiasm and of love for the club.

Let us know how you want the Barça of the future to be. We want a Barça that becomes the pride of everyone and only with your support we can achieve that!"

Read more:
Santiago Salvat is Minguella-Medina candidate
Majo stepping out of Minguella-Medina project
Salvat starts campaign and unveils slogan

New group already preparing 2016 elections

At a press conference at the Hesperia Presidente hotel in the centre of Barcelona yesterday, a group of young Barcelona club members has presented a new Barcelona platform that is named 'Tots som Barça' [We're all Barça].

The group, that includes lawyers, engineers and businessmen and was founded at the end of last year, first wanted to take part in the presidential elections in June but has postponed their plan until the 2016 elections because they couldn't fulfil the requirement of depositing a bank guarantee of around 60 million euros.

Changing the Spanish legislation regarding the bank guarantee is one of goals of the platform. If the next Barcelona president doesn't act to solve the issue they want to organize a popular legal initiative and gather the 500.000 signatures needed to change the law. The elimination of the bank guarantee would be compensated by reducing the powers of the board and giving the general assembly more control.

'Tots som Barça' also wants to put in place measures that would improve the ethics and the transparency at the club. Besides that, they want to focus on the role of the young people by creating a youth board within the structures of the club (including a youth president), promoting volunteer work among the young members and reducing the costs to travel with the team.

The president of 'Tots som Barça' is Jaume Barroso i López [picture, on the right], a young Catalan lawyer. Barroso is the founding partner of the Barroso López law firm in Barcelona. He is specialized in business law and assessment.

Read more:
Benedito says he will also run in next elections
Alexis Plaza presents his candidacy for president
Businessman linked with Nunez to run for president

Guixa: "We have been working since 2006"

Barcelona presidential candidate Jaume Guixà gave an interview to Catalan local television station Teletaxi TV.


Mister Guixà, how do you look at the election campaign so far?
The electoral events in 2010 are quite entertaining and surprising. I do not know if the picture is already getting any clearer. For our candidacy it's clear that we want to reach the end of the process with a totally alternative project to that of Laporta and we are working in that sense. If in the meantime the others start to fight or to play games that could limit the participation in the elections, I feel bad about that. The member of Barça wants to be able to compare projects, see the alternatives, study them and think about them. The real owner of the club, which is the member, has to be able to exercise his right to vote. I hope that in the end there will be real alternatives.

Do you really think that the members of Barcelona are interested in the programs of the candidates?
I think that the members of Barça are living a moment of enthusiasm and excitement, a historic moment because everything that has been given to us by the coaching staff headed by Pep Guardiola and his players. But it is true, and I am feeling this in the talks I have with members and fan club members, that they can perfectly make the difference between the coaching staff, the players and the sporting results on the one hand and the board on the other hand. They know the difference between what they see looking down at the pitch and what they see looking up to the president's box. People are really amazed and do not understand anything of what is going on up there and that the board of Laporta, with all the successes and the good decision to appoint Guardiola as coach, is playing some kind of game between themselves, to now supporting this one and the other day another one. People cannot get that.

It must be clear to you that it is very difficult to get enough signatures to make the cut and to win the elections?
I saw the last game in Tárrega in the province of Lleida and the truth is that people really supported and encouraged me. At Easter I was in Felanitx, on the Balearic Islands, and I can say that we are getting signs of support, of enthusiasm and above all of closeness because I could be the first president of a fan club who could become president of FC Barcelona. That is what inspires us.

Your cv is magnificent. You are a university professor and the president of a Barça fan club in Sant Cugat. But I insist that things are very difficult for you, and it's not only me or the polls who are saying this. Right now, people are looking at the continuity candidacy of Ferrer, the one of Sandro Rosell, who has a lot of chance, and a third one who is raising his voice is Agustí Benedito. I don't want to be cruel, but at this moment I think you don't have any chance.
By explaining me this, you encourage me even more. It's obvious that the challenge will be to make the cut of the 2.100 validated signatures and it's on that we are currently focusing our work by going to the people and organizing meetings. It's possible that the media don't really know much of the work we're doing, but we were the first candidates to create a Facebook profile and anyone who goes there can see what we are doing. I think we will prove it by passing the cut.

Are you telling me that the media only speak about the continuism and Rosell and forget about you and Benedito?
No. I'm very happy with our work. I can not enter the issue of the media. Each one will have their preferences, their own standards to evaluate the information, but we cannot influence that. Our job is to address the members, get in touch with them and try to meet the first objective, which is to make the cut.

In 2006, you took part in the elections for president of FC Barcelona and you did not pass the cut of the signatures. What has changed since then so that the same thing won't happen again?
A lot has changed. Now we are not in an election process in the month of August. We are not in a process where a judge orders that elections have to be organized. We are in a process where the candidacy of Jaume Guixà has matured and has continued to work since 2006, and that is what helps us to be convinced that we are a clear alternative to the laportism and we will show that both by the people and by the project.

These elections are totally different from those we have lived until now. To start with, the current president cannot run according to the statutes. I also think that the member of Barça doesn't want too many changes when the team is doing better than ever. The changes need to focus on the forms and the management model?
President Laporta was in 2003 the most voted club president in the history of the club thanks to the 'Elefant Blau', thanks to the transparency and thanks to wanting to make a club for the member. He said that Barça would be first. Now let's see. Has he fulfilled all this since 2003 until now? We think that we cannot maintain the management model of Laporta among other things because we don't want to continue with the Foster project. All those lights on the outside of five-star stadium don't make sense. We want to involve the member more in the decisions of the club. A general assembly of members where 300 of the 3.940 electors show up, where is the transparency? Where is the 'Elefant Blau'? Our idea is to make it possible for the members to participate in the decisions. We want to have a Miniestadi in excellent conditions, we want to finish the training centre and to help making the first team even better, and all this together with the members who are now being shut out. There are many things we want to change and for some we will have to change the statutes of the club because we see that in many cases it's not possible that the club member participates. We have the vision and the desire to think about a Barça that is closer to the member. We can achieve this if the member wants it.

this was the first part of this interview. you will be able to read the following parts on this blog in the coming days with guixa talking among other things about the economic situation of the club and the nomination of johan cruyff as president of honour.

Read more:
Guixa wants clarification on Ronaldinho commission
Guixa not considering pact with other candidacies
Guixa wants representative fan clubs in board

Rosell and Laporta attend funeral Samaranch

Barcelona president Joan Laporta [picture below] and Barcelona presidential candidate and former sports vice-president Sandro Rosell [picture above, on the left] attended yesterday the funeral ceremonies in Barcelona of Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was the president of the International Olympic Committee from 1980 to 2001.