Godall: "Being president would be a dream"

Barcelona first vice-president Alfons Godall gave last month an interview to Catalan sports paper Sport in which he talked about the upcoming elections.


You've said before that you would leave the club together with Laporta. What would you do if your president and longtime friend, who has always seen you as his successor, would ask you, together with your colleagues of the board, to reconsider your position?
I initially thought that the best thing was to leave together with Joan Laporta after having led the club for seven years and having spent several years in the entourage of the club before. As time will go by, everyone will agree this has been an excellent period from all points of view: sporting, economic and social. So first it was clear to me that I would like to leave with him, but now I'm rethinking it because of some upcoming changes in my personal life. I want to be at the disposal of my colleagues to take part in one way or another in the candidacy that will be based on our experience. In that sense, I can say that I will decide together with the others what the role of every one of us should be in setting up the candidacy. I'm at the disposal of the board for whatever will be decided.

Depending on that decision, would you be willing to lead the candidacy?
We have to talk together. There are directors who have an excellent profile to run for president. I'm at the disposal of my board colleagues for whatever they want in the fuure.

Being president is your dream?
It would be a dream of all the culés, especially for those who weren't talented enough to actually play football. Being a board member and especially being the highest in rank is a big dream. Despite that, it should be clear that leading this club is not easy. When the results are good everything is fine, but when they're not, the problems start. Even when the management is good. Barça is a factory of emotions and feelings that are in the first place linked with the performances of the football team.

Will the election campaign be tense?
The obligation of everyone is to respect Barça and to maintain the club's stability. An election process cannot damage the club. From within the club, we'll make a proposal based on what has clearly bear fruit: at the sporting area, with a spectacular economic and assets growth, the number of club members has increased, the social commitment of the club is clear because of the foundation and the strategic partnership with Unicef. This is a great moment for the club and that will be our starting point for the future, adding some new ideas to that. Barça is the best sporting club in the world but the best is yet to come. These are only the first results.

How do you look forward to the coming year?
With a lot of calmness and serenity. The daily work at Barça is so intense that the elections are still somehow far away. We have established a project that is worth to be further developed in the future. I feel that all my colleagues are ready to build a candidcay of continuity, of future, starting from our experience. We will outline things very soon and we'll choose the right person.

Read more:
Boix: "Many directors qualified to be president"
Laporta: "Sala as president would be an honour"


interview: joan vehils and jordi gil