The Rosell Project - Part 4: The Board (2)

In June 2008, former Barcelona sports vice-president Sandro Rosell announced at a press conference that he would take part in the next presidential elections. Last month, he confirmed in an interview with Catalan radio station Ràdio Barcelona that nothing had changed since that announcement.

Despite the fact that Rosell reportedly decided not to start campaigning before the end of this year (and maybe not even before the elections are called), he would be close to finishing his program. Several media have in the past weeks reported on his project. This blog will give an overview of what has been published so far.


After a long selection process, Rosell would be almost ready with the composition of what will be his board if he would become the next president of FC Barcelona. Rosell might still be looking for a strong figure who could become economic vice-president. Besides the nine names that will almost certainly be part of Rosell's board (read more here), several other people are rumoured to be among the candidates. An overview.


Women:

Rosell would have selected three women who he wants as director in his board. At least two of them will effectively be part of his candidacy. Pilar Guinovart, head of external relations of the guild of restaurant owners of Barcelona, would become the board member responsible for the social area.


Current vice-president:

Catalan television channel TV3 claimed that it's not excluded that one of the four Barcelona vice-presidents that have been involved in the Barcagate case could join Rosell. People of Rosell's entourage reportedly nevertheless told Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo that this option has almost become impossible because none of them has resigned after they discovered the investigations.


Former vice-president:

Several media claim that Gabriel Masfurroll, chairman and managing director of USP Hospitals, a network of private hospitals in Spain, southern Europe and Morocco, could be part of Rosell's candidacy. Masfurroll is a former Barcelona board member under Josep Lluís Núñez and a presidential candidate in 2000. He was vice-president under Joan Gaspart until he resigned in December 2002.

One year ago, Masfurroll said in an interview with Spanish news site noticias.com that he already agreed with Sandro Rosell on a possible partnership in the coming elections shortly after the latter left the board in 2005: "If Sandro wants me to join him, I will be delighted to do so. And if not, I will stay at home, no hard feelings. I would have liked to run for president myself, but I came to the conclusion that it's not worth it."

On Thursday 8 October, Rosell assisted the presentation of a new book written by Masfurroll. Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez was also present. Asked about the upcoming elections, Rosell didn't want to enter the questions of the journalists: "Wait and see."

The media nevertheless don't seem able to agree on what Masfurroll's role might be: he could become board member, he could become involved in the club's foundation or he could play no role at all. Talks between Rosell and Masfurroll would still be ongoing and one media even reports that Masfurroll could join another candidate or not take part in the elections, hoping the winner would then offer him a post afterwards.


Other possible board members:

- Ricardo Rodrigo, chairman of the RBA Group, a communication company that, among other things, publishes popular magazines like 'Lecturas' and 'Semana', as well as the Spanish edition of 'National Geographic'.

- Roger Granados, lawyer.

- Josep Maria Prat, director of classical music promotor Ibercamera.

- Marc Ros, general director of marketing and advertising agency Aftershare.tv.

- José Daurella, chairman of bottling company Cobega, that is authorized to manufacture and sell products of the Coca-Cola Company in large areas of Spain.

- Jordi Mestre, chairman of the Expo Group, a chain of Spanish hotels and resorts, among which the Princesa Sofia hotel close to the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona.

- Jordi Calsamiglia, lawyer specialized in sports law.

- Josep Ramón Vidal, architect.


this is the fourth and last part of this series. you can read the whole series here.


Read the previous parts:
The Rosell Project - Part 1: The Club
The Rosell Project - Part 2: The Team
The Rosell Project - Part 3: The Board (1)

Pilar Guinovart

Gabriel Masfurroll

Ricardo Rodrigo

Roger Granados

Josep Maria Prat

Marc Ros

sources for this series:
el mundo deportivo, sport, el 9 esportiu, as, gol, noticias.com, pelikano, britcorner, intereconomía tv, tv3, rac 1, ràdio barcelona, radio marca, catalunya ràdio and own research