For the second time in fifteen days, Catalan newspaper El Periódico had yesterday a cover story on the investigation of four Barcelona vice-presidents.The newspaper had now access to the audit reports and claims that it is clear that those weren't ordered to protect the four vice-presidents (Joan Boix, Joan Franquesa, Rafael Yuste and Jaume Ferrer) but to spy on them. The reports would contain not one reference to the protection or the safety of the directors.
Not even in the audit of vice-president Franquesa, who in the version of Barcelona chief exectutive Joan Oliver instigated the investigations when he informed the club that he thought he was being investigated and followed, there's no mentioning of a possible following of the director.
The reports mainly refer to financial situation of the four vice-presidents, both profesional as private, as well as to their legal proceedings (read more on the content of the audit reports here). The focus is on issues that could be used against the board members if they would decide to run for Barcelona president next year.
Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo, that had access to the four reports as well, claims that they are full of mistakes and even lies and not worth the 56 000 euros paid for them.
Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia also treated the issue on Friday, saying that they had access to some of the reports and that it's clear that the security audit was in a fact a vulnerability check.
Each report would count between 35 and 40 pages - plus attachments with copies of public records - and deals with the following issues: the business and political relations of the four vice-presidents, their personal assets, their yearly income, their professional career, their criminal record, their debts, the companies they (partly) own, some press reports, as well as reports of interviews with people from their entourage.
Asked about the new revelations, Barcelona presidents Joan Laporta spoke to journalists at the airport of Barcelona upon arrival from a visit to Latin America last night and repeated, without going into specific details, that the reports were an attempt to destabilize the club:
"They are after us and they don't stop trying to destabilize us. I've already said that they'd better leave us alone but Barça is going through one of their best moments and some are determined to go down this road because they cannot stand that the club is lead by people who have a certain way of thinking (note: Laporta refers to his stands on the independency of Catalonia).
It's clear that they are insisting. Now it's this issue, then it's another one. But both myself and the team will keep on working so they won't succeed. For us, the espionage issue has already been closed five months ago.
I also want to make clear that the board is not divided in two groups. There's a diversity of opinions and we now need to put them together. Of course we're not all thinking the same. That's a good thing because it shows that it's a dynamic board. We respect everyone's opinion and the personal relations are good.
I have always acted in this kind of situations and when there's some crisis situation, I have taken decisions in the benefit of the club. I believe that this time we can find a consensus and that we don't have to take another type of decisions."
this is the seventh of ten parts on the case. the next part will cover the audit report on barcelona vice-president jaume ferrer. you can read the whole series here.
Read the previous parts of this series:
Barçagate (1) - El Periodico breaks the news
Barçagate (2) - Emergency press conference
Barçagate (3) - New revelations in the press
Barcagate (4) - Laporta speaks about spying claims
Barcagate (5) - The vice-presidents talk (part 1)
Barcagate (6) - The vice-presidents talk (part 2)
Posts
note:
ReplyDeleteas an example of the content of the security audits, we will tomorrow give some elements of the report on Barcelona vice-president Jaume Ferrer that were made public.
Soon some other counter reports will come about some other candidates controversial relations with Nike for example.
ReplyDeleteI dont like the election period, as people tend to put effort to damage, rather than to build.
If there will be a reason to distract the team this season, especially in the last vital weeks, its this kind of Media bubbles.
If they want to find something about Rosell, they'd better look about his ties with Florentino, rather than those with Nike (those are publicly knows and there's nothing wrong with them).
ReplyDeleteLaporta can't complain here, he caused this himself. His defense is rather weak ("they are after me", du-uh), he doesn't answer the question: was he spying or not?
We dont even need him to answer, Trez. everyone is spying on everyone in this election. It doesn’t mean it is right, but the timing makes me unwilling to make someone else abuse it (just for injecting it in the time that suits him-not the time when it suits the club). I may go to an extend that Laporta possibly made this resourcing so he know if any of the Vices of his board will join his following campaign, what kind of bad news will Rosell find out about them and publish in his pre-paid journals. Its not impossible to be a contingency approach from Laporta campaign.
ReplyDeleteNow regarding Rosell and his nike ties. Whats known is the tip of the ice berg. But I am pointing out this just because he threw in the market last summer some rumors about Tixki ties to traffic agency. Which sounded hellarious for me back then, coming from him.
Its all smoke to cover up the lack of options from Rosell side. At least till the moment.
After all the hype, no one can really tell what are his plans for Barcelona, beside spending the following 6 years trying to prove that Laporta was a curse for the club, and that we didnt really achieved anything in his era. Oh yea...And buying Cesc. Beside that, i didnt hear anything special. And non of that is encouraging. Whenever an election candidate use this strategy in any kind of elections, its an evidance that he has nothing good to put on the table.
Its all making the team pay the price. Like everything rossell tried since he left the board. Trying to damage the stability of the club for his own interest whenever he felt he can hunt a chance. Everytime he failed, the club achieved something great. When he resigned after the club bad start of the season and the conflict regarding the strategic approach to guide the team, the club improved in every department afterward and in the following season titles started to fall on our laps. And lately when the vote of no confidance failed, we won everything that crossed our way, and everything in between through poisoning the atmosphere using all the means possible. So till he proves he changed his attitude and his approach, I will only take such kind of reports for the same selfish-egoistic reasons that governed Rosell behavour so far. Just ADMIT IT, you was WRONG, and you LEARNED and this is YOUR PLAN for barcelona FUTURE. Period.
I even cant believe I was a fan of him once.
Laporta has his stupid mistakes. Laporta heir who will follow Laporta approach toward the club may do the same stupid things that Laporta did. But at least I know this one’s shit. And I know its good side as well. As for the other options, nothing worth notice yet. If we don’t want to get carried away with the publicity firework.
@Ramzi: Rosell has almost said nothing since he left in 2005, so you can't accuse him of destabilizing the whole time, that's not fair. And El Periodico is seen as an anti-Rosell paper so he hasn't anything to do with this new episod.
ReplyDeleteIf Laporta wants to spy on his own directors ahead of the elections, fine, but they cannot do that with the money of the socio's. That's not what we pay them to do, that's club money, that cannot be used for their own sneaky power games. And then just lying about it... That's not "more than a club".
andreu, thats one of the good/bad qualities of Rossell thats well known. Unlike Laporta, He doesnt talk much, he act.
ReplyDeleteThe last summer mess was not far from his finger tips. He tried to avoid approving that, but at the end when he felt that the result was not guaranteed:he Said lot of things back then. Besides, the question is: If Rosell would announce last summer that he is against the vote of no confidance because it distabalize the club in a period where all need to be behind the club to pass that period (which was the right thing to do). would the voting find its way to the end as it happened. And Rosell would have been the only candidate this summer. He was in a hurry. Another one of many mistakes in his calculations. Which proves him unqualified.
Besides, if he didnt say anything since 2005, then thats another reason not to consider him as a serious candidate. Not yet at least. Aren't we supposed to wait and see what he has to say? All what we know about him already is not encouraging (including the plan he mentioned after the Arshavine mess that he want to get Aguero). So till he come up with something more mature, there is no reason to give him a vote. Absolutly no reason.
Regarding the anti-Rosell paper. This is a well known game in elections that is too old and boring. That kind of closed envelopes that fall down on the stairs of the right journal in the right timing is nothing new. Again, he doesnt talk, he acts. The timing is not innocent, and i dont believe in coonsidances.
This sneaky game for power is exactly the same game used to get both Rosell and laporta on board in the first place (when they were still friends). Its proved and confirmed already. If someone is welling to spend his own money to do this kind of games, then he will not hesitate to use your money as well, so they are both on the same boat when it come to this one. Besides, stealing your vote in an emotional moment like the way it happened last summer is worse for the club than stealing your couple of euros you pay as a member, as it would have been more damaging for the club (at least three titles less?). then, till now, we can say No rosel, and no laporta. Fair enough.
I am not with laporta. He will not be the presidant again anyways. But I am hoping we will have a good new board after all, not the less worse. And definitly not the worst.
Revolutionary approaches are needed for a team in a crise. A successfull team need an approach thats based on the previous success (after acknowleging it) then suggesting upgrades. Thats my main problem when it come to Rosell. He want to change everything and ruin the model available just for the sake of it. Just to prove Laporta era was not as good as it seems. If Rosell makes me feel tomorrow that he will build on the current success by improving the current model but at the same time try through developing this model to outshine laporta by yielding more success for the club than Laporta board, I will promote and chant his name for free from tomorrow till the elections date. But he is more obsessed in ruining laporta than building the club. In few months laporta goes, and I dont really care how it end up for him afterward, he manage his own mess. I am focused on what the candidates are planning for the club. And by the way, whats rosell plan again?
"Aren't we supposed to wait and see what he has to say?"
ReplyDeleteNo offense, Ramzi, but maybe you can stick with that, instead of launching all kind of paranoid and unfounded conspiracy theories?
There are a lot of people who aren't too fond of Laporta, for all kinds of reasons. So just portraying this as a Laporta vs Rosell game (and Rosell being the genius behind everything bad that appears in the press) is not in accordance with reality.
If Laporta would have acted properly, there wouldn't have been a case (not about the spying, not about calling a regional president a fool) and a possible destabilization. So instead of pointing to others, he should first take a look at himself.
Last year, Laporta almsot didn't talk with the press and we had success. Let's hope he sets his vanity and personal ambitions aside, thinks about the club first and keeps his mouth shut until he steps down.
"Aren't we supposed to wait and see what he has to say?"
ReplyDeleteLets all stick to that rather than creating legendary fantacies about a guy who up till the moment is absolutely nothing in the books of the club. Specially compared to the most successfull president in the history of the club. Whether people like it or not.
I wouldnt get mislead by fireworks anyway. I know the rosell kind of people. If you really think its my fantacies that he played games to damage the club stability and get advantage of it, then I started to worry about the info the voters get and base their decessions upon. As Its too obvious to deny. Unless if last summer Rosell was having a picnic in the carribi and it was his identical who was roaming arround like a dark ghost.
You have the right to question Laporta about the claims. I never defended that. But do not put it in Rosell credit as being anywhere better. Thats my argument. If laporta learned these shit from someone, then its that sandro who was his guru.
Rosell campaign want to convince people to vote for him because laporta is bad. By doing so he is making people too busy to judge if rosell is any good. And I give him the credit. It is working so far.
Piece.
You're again not sticking to your own rule, Ramzi. But I understand that conspiracy theories are popular. It's an easy way to explain complicated things.
ReplyDeleteRosell isn't campaigning at all. Laporta's other "friends" are doing the dirty work for him. And Laporta himself is giving them better muniton than they could have dreamed off...
For your information: Laporta is also pointing (a few hours ago again) at others when talking about the destabilization. He talks about people who don't agree with his political stands. Not about Rosell.
If there's a conspiracy, Rosell is not the genius behind it.