2015 Presidential Elections

Live comment stream of the conference here, in Spanish: http://www.mundodeportivo.com/20150107/fc-barcelona/sigue-en-directo-la-rueda-de-prensa-de-josep-m-bartomeu_54423075804.html

So far:

"We have decided to call early elections at the end of the season.

"We want to dial down a notch the tension at the club. It's a club that works well socially and our team is competing in all competitions.

"I ask fair play to the candidates, the same one we practice. We are playing for titles and success.

"I said the past January that I wanted to finish my mandate, in 2016, but I think the club needs tranquility.

"I have been a defender of Zubizarreta all these years, but as president I had to make this decision.

"I have the support of all my board members.

"The club needs stability, the level of tension in not adequate, it's disproportionate.

"We have looked for a new sporting director, there's no hurry.

"These last few weeks we have lost our confidence in Zubizarreta.

"I hope we continue to go  to go on the same path we're going [BC's comments: ]

"Luis Enrique is redoing the team, working and there is no doubt he is the right person for the job.

"I never confirm nor deny any names. We are looking for a sporting director, but I will not say anything about anyone.

"Disciplinary case on Messi? It's completely false. I don't know who reported this, but they did it with ill intentions, to hurt the team. We can't deny everything, but this is a grave mistake and we deny it.

"We will follow all steps towards the elections by the book.

"We will disclose the exact dates of the elections at a later time.

"I have talked to Messi and Luis Enrique. These are things that happen in the changing room and we won't intervene, even though I do talk to the players and things are well.

"Zubizarreta's words on Canal Plus were not decisive, although they were another straw on the camel's back.

"Zubizarreta has done some things very well and others not so much, but I appreciate him, but the confidence has deteriorated and there will be another person that does things differently.

"If Messi is happy? There are some things that we don't even bother explaining. The Leo of this year is not the year of last year. This one has ambition and it's a good news for cules that Leo is like he is now.

"We are not looking for anyone from the outside for the new sporting director. We want someone that knows Barca, our club, our way of playing, we look for this profile.

"There are people that have associated Zubizarreta with the FIFA sanction. I have already stated that he has no responsibility in this matter. He was not the one that did any of those signings.

"The new sporting director is or has been at the club. We want someone with Barca DNA. [BC's comments: CESC CONFIRMED ]

"There are no doubts about Luis Enrique's project.

"There has been a disproportionate tension that affects the club, that's why we're calling for elections. The most important thing for us is to lower the tension.

"Calling for elections before a board meeting? The board meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled, obviously, we have all already talked.

"I was the one to sign Zubizarreta, he was a request from Pep and I had to be the one to fire him. I was the one to trust in him, for so long, if we have lost confidence in him then I must be held responsible.

"Advancing the elections will give us a year of tranquility that the team will need.

"It's not easy being Barca's president. You must make decisions with a cool head.

"To resign? No. I wanted to finish in 2016, I like the mandates that are finished, not only at Barca but at any institution.

"If Messi dominates the team? He is the best player in the world, but he has several stars right next to him... Barca's  squad is incredible. Messi is not the life of the club but he is a fundamental piece of it.

"I have not talked to Rosell.

"I have talked to Messi, as well as other players because it is my responsibility to see how they are doing, but I'll never say what we talked about. As president of Barca I am with the players, I want them to win the most possible.

"Carles Puyol had told me he would leave before the decision to fire Zubizarreta.

"The whistling at Messi's tribute [for all time La Liga top scorer]? The fans have a right to express themselves and I have also been a socio and have chosen to clap or not. We always want the socio to be the one to decide.

"If one day we receive an offer for Leo, what would I do? There wouldn't be anything to do. Leo Messi has bet for Barca for many years, he is the best in the world. I don't manage Barca as if it were a multi-national. Barca is a cub of 150 socios and doesn't have anything to do with a company.

"I care about what the socio thinks. And amongst the streets I don't see them unappy but happy.

"Messi is the leader and we want him to keep being the leader.

"There is a very motivated team, with a lot of hope to do things right. Messi is the leader of this team.

"The club has been contracting kids as it always had. The documentation was not done properly. But there is no danger to the model of the club, we will keep working as always.

"Leo Messi is very happy at Barcelona. I see how he plays, how he is, committed, he wants to win. They're all very motivated, not just Messi.

"We don't know who initiated the FIFA complaint. FIFA has not told us.

"Is there another candidate within the board? Any board member is free to present himself. We will see all this when the elections are called for. I ask all candidates respect and responsibility.

"Luis Enrique has a contract until 2016, the projects are not made in a matter of months. He has done a very good job and we are satisfied with his work.

"I will not go to the Ballon d'Or gala. Once the sanction is over we will have formal relationships with FIFA. Not now.

"I'm not sure if it will lower the tension, but I do ask for responsibility.

I'm so happy to hear this. All tho the transfer banned won't help the new president much, but at least he can work on a few things (as we have a lot of problems) not having to worry about battling for signature till next summer.

Get Laporta IN.

Honestly, Bart and this entire board have continuously dropped the ball over and over. But him calling for a summer election is the smartest thing he has done. It should put a halt to the tension, as i am sure everyone feels Bart and his entire posse of rats will be moved out and a new team and president will come in. Honestly, I bet it's Laporta's election to lose. From what I understand he had said he would run again when the elections came around, and now they are coming earlier than expected.

Ya'lls thoughts on the whole matter?

Winter is Coming wrote:I'm so happy to hear this. All tho the transfer banned won't help the new president much, but at least he can work on a few things (as we have a lot of problems) not having to worry about battling for signature till next summer.

The Ban is for this winter window and the summer window, but I think the following winter window it will be open again.

I first think that the comments there from the president are quite revealing and reasonably open. Put it this way, I didnt expect him to reveal as much as he has and say the things he has said in terms of his opinion of Zubi especially. So actually I praise (use that term loosly here, its not much of a thing to be honest) him for saying as much as he did, I expected alot more blanket statement. And at least he takes responsibility for not getting Zubi out much earlier.

All the other stuff is pretty much hogwash and general talk you expect.

Good thing it has come early and while the next president will have alot of work to do in quite a difficult situation...he also has the opportunity to look 10x better than he is by sheer comparison to what has come before him.

I have to say that while I'm happy this has come about, this is the worst board in history and this guy was not even elected to the office, I am absolutely disgusted at the way it has come. We lost a game and Messi missed a practice session and of a sudden the knives were out and the media was spouting lie after lie after lie. There's no accountability. They don't need to prove that what they report is true or not such as by providing sources or quotes. They can print whatever they want and force what would normally be a disagreement between player and coach and turn it into an institutional crisis.

Worst media in the world, by far.

The deception if Bart actually gets officially ("re")elected.

Someone on Barcaforum made some great points and I will just quote him:

Why everybody so happy about new elections? This is by far the best thing that Barto could do to keep his seat.

If the elections are held by the end of the season, every challenger would only have like 2 months for the (behind-the-scenes) negotiations for their crew. Then there are only like 2 months left to build a electoral campaign from scratch.

Having plans and executing them are two different things, though. Let's have one hypothetical scenario:

We have this one candidate, let's call him Laporto or sth like that. He is planning for the '16 elections and already has plans on whom to build his team around. Amongst them, there is a sporting director from abroad, let's call him Moncho. Moncho obviously has his demands, like bringing in his assistant or sth like that.

If the elections are to be held in 4 months, things are bound to get complicated for Laporto. He has to negotiate with Moncho (and others) right now. Moncho knows it as well, which gives him a leverage in negotiations and all that. Laporto is the one under pressure to make it all in time, while the current regime does not have such qualms

Also, working out an marketing campaign takes time. Time, which is now cut short to like 30% from before.

Laporta is a deity on the internet, in Barcelona not so much

Even if a new board were to come in, the transfer ban is already there. Which basically renders all reinforcements impossible until summer '16. I don't expect any winter '16 signing to improve the squad significally.

And once the 16/17 season is underway, the newly formed team will need time to settle in. Which is more than likely to resultin another trophyless year. Which in turn makes two of the four years of the new board "wasted".

Given the circumstances, Bartomeu made the best decision possible... for himself.

Also this was a recent poll that MD did among 300 socios (I think at the Cordoba game before Christmas):

Poll: "Who would you vote for in next elections?" Laporta 39,7% - Bartomeu 25,7% - Benedito 10,3% - Other 24,7% #fcblive (300 members) [md]

Unless this is a rigged poll by MD, Bart still seems to get a fair share of votes, basically only Laporta can rival him. The socios might see Zubi as a bigger culprit for Barca's misfortunes and now that he's gone and if the team wins anything major this season Bart might get officially elected.

Bart won't win if Laporta shows. Even if he doesn't his reputation is too tainted by association with Zubi and Rosell. The other candidates have mountains and mountains of ammunition. No one says they would vote for them now because the other candidates have no recognition, but the campaign should change that

Bart wanted to wait until 2016 because in 2015 in the middle of the transfer ban there is no way he will be re-elected.

That being said, I don't forget the socios actually voted for Rosell when he pretty much said he didn't believe in Cruyff's Barca, so I guess I'm not putting it past them.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:

That being said, I don't forget the socios actually voted for Rosell when he pretty much said he didn't believe in Cruyff's Barca, so I guess I'm not putting it past them.

The socios also voted in favour of the Rosell stadium project in midst of all the Neymar transfer, Rosell resignation and transfer ban scandals when they could have easily shown the middle finger to this board. I think the socios are bit of different breed than younger "Internet fans" like we are.

But alot of what gets presidents voted in is based on fancy names they are going to sign. For Laporta the first time around it was Beckham/Ronaldinho.

Now there is no need to make such promises, because we cant buy anyone anyway.

So what work is there that needs to be done? Yeah, it will be harder to make deals for new sporting directors like mentioned...but he is a sporting director, given the chance to work for Barca with incredible spending power...

Put it this way, nobody is losing out on getting voted in because of some minor issues with a sporting director.

Making a marketing campaign cant be so hard either...all they have to do is say "look at what you have now". Someone like Laporta dont have to sell himself like that...alright maybe the "internet" love him more than people in Barca, Maybe...but thats not the point really is it? Again, all one has to say is...look what we have now, you wanna vote to keep on this way?

You know the promises that will be made?

"In 2 years when we have the budget of 2 transfer seasons we will buy [the entire Bayern team]"

"I will bring back Pep!"

"I will get [fanciest sporting director you can think of]"

"I will get rid of the Qatar deal and go back to our roots!"

etc

Anyways in my eyes it's good that we can't sign, that way a sporting director can carefully plan and see what we currently have available. Barca is one of those jobs you can't say no to, I''m sure we can get someone good if we wanted to, even with these set backs there is a lot of work that goes into that role. Its not only about signing players but managing everything from youth to professional football.

one thing our sporting director can do is sell the players we do not need.. maybe negotiate proper prices..
for example on song / or whomever else.

I have been away for a long time and my interest in football is nowhere near what it used to be but the recent events made me eager to read what my fellow Barcelona fans think.

Yes there is very little to smile about. The board was already as bad as possible. Then when for a moment I enjoyed the sacking of Zubizaretta came the realization that this likely won't be of any particular benefit now.

Earlier it seemed that Messi vs. Enrique was a media hype but today I have read in several places that there is a lot of truth to it and the feeling on this forum seems to be the same. In all honesty a smart part of me appreciates Enrique for refusing to cower down in spite of knowing that in a battle against Messi he can never win. I read today that he did the same with Totti at Roma. Unfortunately for him this kind of strategy can only even be remotely successful if you have first built up your resume. The way we are playing this season, does anyone think things have improved even over Tata Martino, leave alone any comparison with the glory days?

Quick elections are certainly pleasing but I did read a theory that by doing this they have scuppered the chances of strong opposition candidates contesting the elections. Does that mean that if others don't throw their hat in the ring this miserable board will be re-elected? I suppose an unknown nobody would be preferred by us to this bunch.

Lastly one thing that both mystifies and troubles me. Why has Iniesta's level gone down so much? For Xavi we know he is at the end of his career but Iniesta should ideally have at least three more years left in him. The way Enrique's team plays with the midfield no more than incidental does not help his cause but even on certain days when he is in a more key role I see a shadow of the player that used to be. Maybe he is slower than before. Maybe he does not react as fast. Maybe his feet aren't that fast any more. His stamina I have noticed for several months now has been on the decline. However even that does not fully explain the descent. Are there some mental problems as well? Maybe the lower happiness level at the club is affecting everyone's performances.

In football as in the world nothing succeeds like success. When we were winning everything any dispute was easily brushed aside and laughed off. Now that we are in such poor shape tensions are heightened and the smallest incident escalates into a full fledged conflict. These are sad days. Long term Barca fans have of course seen worse but for those like me who didn't even follow the club in the pre-Ronaldinho era these may be the worst times. Or maybe they are just as bad as Rijkaard's last season. Let's just hope the results won't be as bad but if anyone thinks we can win the UCL his optimism needs to be commended. The media sees even Manchester City as favorites against us and that doesn't seem that far fetched considering how things are with us.

To JD.

In regarding to Iniesta, I think the case is the same you see with anyone near or over 30.

If your 30, your not allowed to just be in a bad form..because if you do, your classified as finished. We seen this many times, we can name names forever...you remember Stam, you remember Pirlo? Both were finished apparently...Pirlo finished more than once even lol

You notice, nobody actually says Busquets is finished? Some say we was always crap (people who dont understand football I can only suppose) but more often they just talk about how bad is he is playing. When your 30, you dont get that quite so much...you get, yeah he is finished now.

Iniesta may have lost some things and more than likely as with most players..when the team struggles, you struggle..when the team looks good, you look good. Let us just wait and see what happens in some time, alot changes in very short time in football.

As for the state of the team in comparison to other years, you guessed correctly. This "crisis" doesnt even measure on my scale...its not a big deal. The team isnt very good right now, but its not very bad either. Just have to wait and see what decisions are made in all aspects.

Thanks Dani for a very nice reply. How you explain the situation may be the best way of putting it.

I am also hoping that Iniesta will shine again. For instance with Robben I remember having said that he was gone for good and from there he completed the most amazing turnaround. Ribery's comeback was also somewhat unexpected. There are other names of course including the ones you mentioned.

Yes we have to wait and watch. It all starts from the top i.e. the board. If we can get a competent board in place then anything is possible.

This message is to FREE CAT, or anybody else in Spain.

What is the word in Catalonia as far as the feelings towards who might or will be deff running? Any rumblings about Laporta or any other hot candidate willing to step up against this board of rats? Because last I read it sounded like the socios were happy with the way Bart was doing things (probably because he is the perfect puppet), and that's worrying if we get stuck with him another term

You guys have system-wide problems in terms of management... the people get caught with their pants down yet always blame the "politics involved", saying that Madrid had something to do with it. It's an easy excuse no matter what wrong the club does.

Heck, we had the same issue at Madrid before Flo.

The solution? Need to bring in fresh blood like we did.... someone who's made his fortune in private industry and has everything to lose by acting in a corrupt fashion at the club. Neither Bartomeu nor Laporta fit the bill.

Barca, Bart and Rosell are charged with tax fraud.

Bart: "This is all Madrid's fault!"

Can't make this up. Couting the days until he's gone.

windkick wrote:This message is to FREE CAT, or anybody else in Spain.

What is the word in Catalonia as far as the feelings towards who might or will be deff running? Any rumblings about Laporta or any other hot candidate willing to step up against this board of rats? Because last I read it sounded like the socios were happy with the way Bart was doing things (probably because he is the perfect puppet), and that's worrying if we get stuck with him another term

A friend of mine talked to Laporta and he is going to run as President.
Benedito is also running and possibly someone else.
Taking into consideration the general mood, I'm completely sure it's impossible for Bartomeu to win the elections, bar winning the treble.

Joan Laporta has stepped up his bid to become Barcelona president ahead of the summer election after securing the 76 million euro financial guarantee needed to run for the position.

The Liga de Futbol Profesional (LFP), responsible for administering the two professional football leagues in Spain, requires a 15 percent guarantee of a club's expenditure from candidates before they are allowed to launch a bid, amounting to €76 million at Barcelona.

Laporta has yet to publicly confirm that he will run for the position, but has already gathered the financial support necessary to do so and is expected to formally announcy his candidacy in the weeks leading up to the election, granting himself the time to put together a team around him and gain as much monetary support as possible to back his bid.

The 52-year-old previously led Barca to 12 titles in his first mandate between 2003 and 2010. He hired current Bayern Munich boss Guardiola as first-team coach in 2008 as the club embarked on the most successful spell in its history.

He initially aimed to return to Camp Nou in 2016, but has brought forward his bid after reigning president Josep Maria Bartomeu announced a summer election during a press conference in January.

Bartomeu has been in charge at Barcelona ever since Sandro Rosell was forced to step down in the wake of the controversy surrounding the transfer of Neymar from Santos.

Laporta faces competition from Bartomeu, Agusti Benedito and Jordi Farre in the race to become Barcelona president, with all three already publicly confirming their candidacy.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/88/spain/2015/04/08/10573782/laporta-steps-up-bid-to-become-barcelona-president?ICID=HP_BN_6

76 milion...
Insane money for an unpaid job. Barça president should get a payment, it's just madness that you have to put forward 76 milion for an unpaid job. I can understand the passion, but still it's just a crazy risk for no economic reward, only a personal reward in terms of self-realization and social status (as long as you don't use the club to make money).

Yea that part was really odd to me

Cat, what are the rumblings over in there as far as who is likely to get the peoples backing? From the outside looking in it sounds as if it's Laporta's job to lose, with Benedito being the second favorite. Doesn't sound like Farre or Bart have as much of a chance

It's 76 million to be able to run, right? I know Madrid has similar clauses but that makes very little sense to me. If you are able, why do you need to be rich?

Good article:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/21/sports/soccer/on-one-point-voters-agree-barcelona-election-has-intrigue.html?_r=0&referrer=

Too bad us folk across seas can't vote