MADRID, 17 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, has highlighted that the Assembly of Compromisario Members this Sunday will be vital, since in it they will decide “what Barça will be like in this century”, and has assured that they have “a plan to save it” from the “erratic drift” in which it finds itself with the aim of returning it “to the place it deserves.”
“It is one of the most important Assemblies in our history. We have the responsibility to decide how Barça is going to be. We will delve into future issues and we will have to make decisions that will also affect future generations. Barça is more than ever in your hands. Barça is not in the hands of third parties, States or investment funds, and you can be sure that Barça will always be the property of its members. Those who think they can appropriate Barça will take it badly, “he said during his speech at the Palau Blaugrana.
During the Assembly, which began with a minute of silence in honor of the recently deceased members and with a video summary of the last season and a half, he did not hide the bad numbers of the entity. “They are the worst accounts in the history of Barça. When we arrived we could not pay or payroll. The responsibilities that are derived will be studied after the audits,” he said.
“We had two options: to be sorry about what we inherited or to work. This situation is not fixed from today to tomorrow, 595 million euros at low interest, we have negotiated the contracts of the first team and we have reduced the salary bill by 156 million. It was the highest in the market. We have reactivated investments in our assets, “he continued.
In this sense, he asked to take “a step forward” so that the club again “to be loved and admired in the world.” “We have to exercise responsibility and decide how we want the Barça of this century to be,” he said. “We have to roll up our sleeves to move forward. We want to approve these dire accounts to move forward and return FC Barcelona to the place it deserves. I ask for your trust because we will not be able to do it alone. Our values cannot be dissipated by a situation of The conjunctural crisis. In moments of difficulty the best of Barcelona always comes out, “he said.
“We are a great family and like any great family we will turn this situation around. Barça is a model institution in the sports and institutional field. We have a vocation to serve Barça, and if we fail in any decision it will not be due to bad faith. We are ready to take the club out of this erratic drift in which we are installed. History will judge us. We are risking our prestige and our heritage to help the club, “he continued.
“WE HAVE A PLAN TO SAVE THE BARÇA”
The maximum Barça president revealed that they have “a plan to save Barça”, “strategic and rigorous”, and structured on three axes. The first one is “to recover the sports model based on La Masia”. “Espai Barça is essential to be able to compete with powerful competitors,” he warned, and ventured that it will be “the pride of Barcelona for a century.” “The impact it will have on Barcelona I compare it to that of the 1992 Olympic Games,” he said. “Our rivals will begin to reap the fruits of the reforms in their stadiums at the end of this season. We have to wake up,” he warned.
The second axis is that of economic sustainability. “We must work to increase revenues and reduce costs,” he said, also advancing an environmental sustainability plan that will be “a reference in environmental management.” Finally, with regard to the social sphere, he affirmed that they will establish a “more efficient model with the partners” and will open the new stage of the Foundation, the “backbone of our values” and with which they intend to create “a more just and more equitable society. free”.