Thursday, February 4, 2010

Guixa: "I reaffirm that the club is almost bankrupt"

This blog had an exclusive interview with Barcelona presidential candidate Jaume Guixà.


PLAYERS You plan to contact players or their entourage trying to close pre-agreements or you won't enter the game of putting out names and transfers?
It's too early to talk about signings, although in the future we will announce what our intentions are regarding this issue.

Would you be willing to pay between 40 and 50 million euros for the return of Cesc Fàbregas?
Cesc wants to come back and we want him to come back, but as I said before: it is very early to talk about transfers. Either way, what is clear is that we will have to sign the players wanted by Guardiola and we will negotiate to pay the right price taking into account the circumstances of the market and the qualities of the player.

ECONOMY You have said in an interview with 'El 9 Esportiu' that the club is on the verge of bankruptcy. You can assure that this was not just a strategic statement in the built-up to the elections and that you have concrete and reliable indications that the financial situation of the club is disastrous?
I reaffirm my statement. We believe that the club member should be worried about the economic situation of the club. I do not believe the offical numbers.

What will be your plan to clean up the economic situation of the club? You have in your candidacy experienced people who are capable of doing this?
In our candidacy we have a person specialized in economics, who has a fantastic curriculum, is linked to this sector and is amply prepared to take charge of the economic area.

SHIRT Do you want to continue the collaboration with Unicef?
Of course. It is a good initiative that also perfectly matches with the value that Barça is "More than a club".

You consider a return to a "virgin" shirt in the future? A shirt with a commercial brand can be an option for you or this is totally excluded?
We want to maintain the design with the Unicef logo.

HOOLIGANS Do you agree with the policy of president Joan Laporta against the Boixos Nois, the radical fans, and do you want to continue to not give them any privileges?
Without any doubt we need to keep the violent people away from the stadiums. People are going to a football game to have fun and not to worry about their safety.

ELECTION DATE Do you agree with the choice of the date on which the elections will be held? Did you prefer another day?
We were prepared for any date that the board thought was the right one. We have been working for a long time and we are ready to lead an interesting candidacy that can persuade the Barcelona fans. 13 June seems a good date to us, because it won't affect the performances of the team and because they have listened to the opinion of the players.

SIGNATURES You need around 2100 signatures of members to be able to participate in the upcoming elections. You hope to reach this number? You in some way already have "secured" a certain number of signatures?
I fully believe in our possibilities. Moreover, we have a team of volunteers in place who, when the time is there, will work to make it happen.

In 2006, you said you got 1694 signatures (when 1804 were needed) but you never submitted them to the competent commission so it was not possible to check them. Some have criticized this decision by saying that you didn't act right towards the members who had given you their signature. You understand this criticism? And can you explain again why you decided not to submit the signatures in August 2006?
At that time I said that I would only submit the signatures if I would reach the number of 1804. Back then, I thanked the people who supported me for their help and I want to repeat that now.

BARCA IN THE WORLD You share the analysis that Barça can not grow a lot anymore in Catalonia or Spain while at the same time in other parts of the world there's an almost unlimited potential of fans and that this is why the club (apart of course from taking care of their roots) needs to have a more global focus? You have a plan to make Barça grow abroad?
We believe that internationalization is important - and I have experienced that in person during my recent trip to the United Arab Emirates because of the World Cup for Clubs - and we have prepared a great marketing plan that will allow us to coherently work on the issue. Either way, we will not forget the Catalan and the Spanish fans.

Many thanks for this interview and good luck in the campaign.

this was the second and last part of this interview. you can read the first part here.

Read more:
More about Guixa
Three 'Dream Team' players in candidacy Guixa
Guixa: "The financial situation worries me"

6 comments:

  1. i would like to see the "real numbers" of the financial situation. It makes no sense that barça spent almost 100M this year in signings.

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  2. Saying that the club is almost bankrupt is a BIG statement to make. It just doesn't make sense to me. It's one thing to claim that the club is not in an "ideal" or "good" financial position, but to state that we're almost BANKRUPT is taking it a bit too far in my opinion, especially if you don't have proof to back you up.

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  3. Numbers are stubborn things to convince

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  4. Stating BANKRUPTCY is probably a way to get some attention, a PR-stunt maybe. Right now, it seems there isn't any particular issues to separate different candidates. They all want Cecs as a big signing. They all want Guardiola to continue. Most of them criticize Laporta. Maybe its still early stage of campaign? So why not saying the club's economy is crap so you can get some voters to hear your name.

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  5. @0marX: He _believes_ the club is almost bankrupt. Isn't that enough proof for you? :)

    But don't worry about that because they have _a person_ specialized in economics with a fantastic curriculum who will single-handedly deal with this bankruptcy thing.

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  6. What's the definition of an accountant?

    Someone who solves a problem you didn't know you had in a way you don't understand.

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