Elections at Christmas

Carles tusquets, President of the Barcelona Management Board, appeared before the Barça club's media in order, before answering questions from the media (which the reader can find in another piece), to detail what the Commission's line of action will be Manager. The main announcement of Tusquets, in addition to pointing out that, for the moment, Barça will not go to the contest and that this would be a decision that the incoming directive should make, is that, if sufficient sanitary conditions are met, the manager's idea is let there be elections at Christmas: “We have met today to draw the lines of what our work will be, which is summarized in the call for elections in a maximum of three months and to govern the club to guarantee its normality and protect its interests. We have decided to call elections in the shortest possible term as long as sanitary conditions allow. Members of the Disciplinary Commission and the Transparency Commission together with the Member's Trustee will be in charge of this task, the elections. The Management Committee will be in charge of the economic issue. We propose a work schedule so that the electoral process is carried out with the maximum guarantees of sanitary security. We will dedicate all the resources to organize it at the height of this institution but we need a vote with all the guarantees. Maximum security is required. “

He also analyzed the profound impact that COVID-19 has on the entity: “Regarding the club's government, is in the midst of a tremendous situation of exceptionality that has affected the club since last March. All companies had an eventuality plan to face contingencies but I do not know of any who had foreseen this pandemic. So I don't think we can blame any manager for this. As it is an exceptional situation, this requires exceptional responses. The stadium, the Museum and the shops suffer the paralysis of tourism and the limitation of people. The diversification of our club's income makes us suffer more than any other. We suffer from the absence of tourism. The last year of normalcy, our stadium had a turnover of 220 million. Imagine what it means to not be able to open it all season. We need to continue reducing expenses and the most immediate measure is the salary negotiation table, which ends on November 5. We hope to reach an agreement with the players and the workers. We all want the club. The partners are also suffering. I hope the staff, both sporty and non-sporty, are up to the task. “

In recent days there has been speculation about the entry into bankruptcy, in case an agreement is not reached: “All of us who are part of the structure should know that the economic situation of the club is not comfortable, it is complex. We have to act on two lines. Lower expenses and get income that does not exist today. There is an absolute uncertainty of the main income of the club. We assess that, to balance, it is necessary to make efforts of about 300 million. I would like to recall that in previous management committees such as those of Xavier Sala i Martín or Ramon Adell, sand they constituted at the end of the season and in a more comfortable economic situation. Let's say the situation is now the opposite. Further, the pandemic does not allow us to have a clear visibility. Therefore, we cannot dedicate ourselves only to classifying the invoices. But let's stay for a month or two, we'll have to do other jobs. This commission sees it feasible, with everyone's help, to implement measures to mitigate these negative effects and implement a plan to increase income and lower expenses. And those decisions may be reversible. If the next directive wants to leave behind what we do, they can do it. Three final ideas. We will call elections around Christmas. You will have to vote in sanitary conditions that guarantee high participation. The second idea is that the economic situation is very complex and the third idea is that all the solutions will be put. We will do our best. Financial institutions know that this club has a future. “