Cardoner: "The member always has the last word"

This blog had an interview with Jordi Cardoner, who will be a member of the board team proposed by Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell.


TRANSPARENCY AND CONTROL In recent decades the club has seen some cases where there were doubts about members of the board doing business using the club or favouring people of their entourage. The Consell Sènior Blaugrana, a council linked to the candidacy of Sandro Rosell, has been working on an ethical code that would regulate what directors can and can not do. A first draft had been submitted in November of last year but since then nothing has been heard about the project nor has any text been published allowing the fans to evaluate the proposals. Dou you still intend to adopt an ethical code and include it in the statutes of the club?
The Consell Sènior, with the help of more than 250 club members of Barça, has done a very positive job. Incorporating a ethcical code that can serve as a guideline for the rulers of the club would be very useful, but in any case it will be the member who will assess and decide this. We must not forget that in FC Barcelona the member, its owner, always has the last word.

Will the members of the board of Sandro Rosell make public their personal assets, something that has been promised by the candidate Agustí Benedito?
No, that would undermine the basic principles of law. Honesty is a responsibility of every individual member of the board of directors of the club, and that of the whole is the responsibility of the president. Unfortunately in our society, and for obvious reasons because of things that have happened and happen too often, people have lost confidence in others, but mechanisms like this would dehumanize and reduce the values of the institution.

There are rumours that say that some candidates are trying to manipulate the Barcelona fans using supposedly neutral Facebook groups or pages, for example groups that spread news about the election or groups of young fans. You can confirm that people who are part of the candidacy of Sandro Rosell haven't created Facebook groups or pages without mentioning their link with the candidacy?
The member of Barça is a lot more intelligent than many imagine, he is analytical person and doesn't let himself be influenced by simple comments on the web. You cannot manipulate the member of Barça through the internet. We really like direct contact, frank dialogue, without masks. The web can make people hide, it should be an additional means, but never replace real contact.

NUMBER OF CLUB MEMBERS In Catalonia, there is some fear among the season ticket holders of FC Barcelona that the club members without a season ticket might "take over" the club. It seems that it's also because of this that some candidates (like Agustí Benedito) seem to be looking for ways to limit the number of club members. The candidacy of Sandro Rosell wants to limit the number of club members or make the process of becoming a member more difficult?
Today it's very easy to become a member of Barça. Any person anywhere in the world can become a member through the internet. It is an issue that we will take to the general assembly, all the club members should decide on this.

PRESIDENT JOAN LAPORTA In the elections of 2003, you gave your support to the candidacy of Joan Laporta. Why?
Yes. I did that because of the friendship I had and still have with Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu.

What do you think about the work regarding the social area by the Barcelona board from 2003 until now?
Insufficient, the club member has been distanced from the decision-making process of his club. The club member should not be seen as a client, but as a part of the club.

HONORARY PRESIDENT You think that members should have the chance to vote on the appointment of Johan Cruyff as honorary president of FC Barcelona, through the general assembly of delegates (proposed by the candidate Jaume Guixà) or through a referendum (proposed by the candidate Agustí Benedito)?
Who has to decide is the member, the general assembly is a sovereign body.

CAMPAIGN Based on the statutes of the club - that for sure do not limit the electoral debate in time - or the alleged risk for the stability of the football team, the candidacy of Sandro Rosell will apparently not come out before May, which may limit the time to discuss your ideas to about a month. As there is only an election every six years, the members and the fans don't have the right to have a longer campaign, where you can discuss calmly and thoroughly the future of the club?
Our candidacy wants to respect the dates that the statutes indicate as the electoral period.

In your interviews, you have said that the candidacy of Sandro Rosell wants a clean campaign and you have always been very respectful towards the board and the current president. In part of the Barcelona entourage, people nevertheless have the feeling that there are several media - some of them have (correctly or incorrectly) been linked in some way with Sandro Rosell - who are doing the "dirty work" for your candidacy, praising Sandro Rosell and attacking other candidates or the president of the club, giving you the opportunity not to "stain your hands" in public and to maintain a good image of not wanting to divide the Barcelona fans. What do you think about that feeling? And more generally: what should be in your opinion the role of media in the elections: they must try to inform the fans as neutral as possible or they can - openly or in secret - chose the side of a candidate?
Your question upsets me because it assumes "dirty tricks" on our part. If one really thinks that, I would ask him not to vote for us.

BLOG Since September of last year you started the blog "The best fans of the world" where you publish articles on the club and the campaign. As far as I can tell, you have a style of writing that is pleasant for the reader. You have always liked writing?
I've always liked not to create or cause misunderstandings, and you can avoid those by writing in an understandable way, in my language we say "clar i català" [clear and catalan], in other words calling things by their name.

You will continue with the blog after 13 June if Sandro Rosell wins? And if he does not win the elections?
I didn't consider putting an end to my blog. I think it's necessary to have open lines of communication with the members, and as long as my readers allow me, I will continue to write.

BARCELONA FANS ABROAD You share the analysis that Barça cannot grow a lot anymore in Catalonia or Spain while at the same time there's an almost unlimited potential of fans abroad and that this is why the club (apart from of course take care of the roots) should focus more than ever on the rest of the world?
Barça is a Catalan club and a club from Catalonia, that has at the same time a huge potential for growth outside of the country. I think that in Catalonia and in Spain we can continue to grow, Barça will always grow.

If you win the election, José Maria Barnils could be appointed as "ambassador" of the club abroad. What will his function exactly be?
José Maria Barnils would be the person of the social commission responsible of the fan clubs abroad. José Maria, a member since his birth (number 6.000), knows what one feels and how it feels like to be a Barcelona fan more than 2.000 kilometres from the stadium. He lives in Denmark for more than 15 years and his love for the club continues to grow. He's a great Barcelona fan and a better friend.

The most fundamental right of a club member is the right to vote. If Sandro Rosell is elected as president, what will you do to encourage the participation in the elections of the members who live far from the Camp Nou? Will you introduce internet voting, voting by mail and/or voting by delegation?
We need to make it easier to vote for those who are unable to do so or for whom it's too expensive because of the distance. We hope that in six years the internet voting will offer all security guarantees so we can make the participation in the elections easier for the member.

Many thanks for the 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:
Team member Rosell talking about their project
Rosell leading in university poll
Rosell plans embassador for foreign fan clubs