Rousaud: “If there is a winning proposal, I will present myself”

The Catalan businessman Emili rousaud, ex-director of Barça and founder of Factorenergia, is considering the possibility of presenting himself as a candidate for the presidency of FC Barcelona, a decision that could be announced in the coming days, since it is capable of creating a winning project and “turning the current situation around”.

In an interview with EFE, Rousaud (Barcelona, ​​1966) acknowledges that he I would be “very excited” to preside over Barça, club of which he was resigned vice president as a result of the so-called 'Barçagate ', and that he maintains contacts with people who could accompany him in this adventure, to know their opinion and assess the option of setting up a strong candidacy.

The manager had given himself a few months to make a decision on the matter, but Barça's crushing defeat against Bayern Munich in the Champions League (2-8) could lead the current president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, to advance the elections . An extraordinary emergency meeting has been called for this Monday.

Rousaud regrets “the humiliation” that the club has suffered in the European league and considers that “it has hit rock bottom very hard”, so it places to Bartomeu to advance the elections, initially planned for 2021.

He assures, however, that he does not want to rush and that he will wait to know what the Barcelona board decides on Monday to make a decision about his future: “Now I feel a pressure of time that I did not have before and that I will have to decide now “, says the manager.

In any case, he insists, the decision has not been made and this will depend on various factors, such as putting together a team “that brings a new air, with a high and proven management capacity and at the same time that it represents and one to all the barcelonismo “ and, consequently, that it is able to gain the trust of the partners.

“A great team of Barcelona players, names with proven experience and prestige, that they come to serve the club “and that they will have to compete with other more well-known candidates, he explains.

“It is a complex world. If I think there are possibilities of forming a winning proposal, in the terms discussed, I will decide “, stresses the employer.

Rousaud, in any case, looks forward to trying and convinced that he can offer a project that restores the enthusiasm to the fans and makes Barça “remain the best club in the world.”

“We are the biggest club in the world and I see myself able to turn the current situation around “, indicates the manager, who believes that an alternative like the one he wants to propose is “necessary” and for now no other possible candidate has proposed it.

Cuts

Leading Barça, however, will not be an easy task for anyone, as Rousaud recognizes that the new president will have to face a complex sporting and economic situation, with a sharp drop in income due to COVID-19. “Everyone likes to manage in abundance, but not everyone is excited to manage scarcity,” he warns.

Rousaud, CEO of the energy marketer Factorenergia and vice president of the employer association Pimec, He was also institutional vice president of Barça, although he resigned last April together with five managers as a result of the 'Barçagate' case, for which a company hired by the club would have carried out on social networks a smear campaign of individuals and entities not related to the board of directors of Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Rousaud details that he submitted his resignation when he learned that the contract that triggered 'Barçagate' eluded internal controls, since it was fragmented into amounts of less than 200,000 euros to avoid supervision by the adjudication commission that he himself presided.

“It was an intolerable situation and I couldn't look the other way,” explains the businessman, who left the club along with Enrique Tombas, Silvio Elías, Josep Pont, Maria Teixidor and Jordi Calsamiglia.

Despite being considered the 'dolphin' of Bartomeu, the man best placed to lead a hypothetical continuation candidacy for the 2021 elections, his controversial resignation ended his relationship with the current president of Barça.

“What I said is that if it was shown in the audit that a higher price than the market had been paid, you could say that someone had put their hand in the box. But I clarified that I did not know who and of course no one on the board of directors, “the manager details.

Today, Rousaud admits that does not have any relationship with Bartomeu, but that he has “a cordial relationship with almost all the members of the board.”