Torres confirms good relationship with Rosell

Asked about a possible return to Spain, Liverpool Fernando Torres (25) has said in an interview with Madrid sports tabloid As that, despite a good contact with Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell, he has no plans to leave the English Premier League soon:

"You never know what can happen but for now I don't consider a return to the Spanish league. Sandro Rosell already wanted me before? I have a good relationship with Sandro since his time at Nike, but these are hypotheses because he is not even the president of Barça. In the short term, my future is in England."

Read more:
Rosell sounding out Fernando Torres
Rooney could become electoral transfer target
Polls lead to Cesc transfer rumours

Begiristain proposes Zubizarreta as his successor

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain has postponed the renewal of his contract, that expires at the end of this season, to give the next president the free hand.

If the new president would want him to continue, Begiristain could be willing to consider the otpion, although his intial plan would be to leave the club in the summer.

The Basque former player would already have told his closest entourage that he wants to close an era and start something new after a sabbatical period.

Begiristain has reportedly said during talks with current Barcelona board members who will run for president that former Barcelona goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta [picture] would be the best candidate to replace him as sports director as of next season.

Read more:
Zubizarreta is an option to replace Begiristain
Poll result: Begiristain has to stay?
Rosell wants to cancel sports director

Sala doesn't exclude future candidacy

Asked about the rumours that he still could be a candidate in the upcoming elections for president of FC Barcelona (read more here), Barcelona treasurer Xavier Sala i Martín has rejected this possiblity in an interview with Catalan radio station Catalunya Ràdio but didn't exclude he will run for president in the future:

"Xavier Sala i Martín will certainly not be a candidate, meaning the number one of a list, in the elections of 2010. And I'm talking about 2010, not about the future. I don't want people to bring this up later and say that Sala i Martín in the past has said this or that...

The rumours about Alfons Godall supposedly not wanting to get to the end and about a change in the leadership are spread on purpose to scare the people by saying that Alfons doesn't want to continue. But Alfons Godall will go on until the end. He is very motivated, so that is guaranteed."

Read more:
Sala wants to attract sponsor for Unicef logo
Ferrer has biggest media impact
Could Sala i Martin still be a candidate?

Rosell signs well-known late night show host

Catalan newspaper El Periódico claims that the candidacy of Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell has closed a deal with Catalan television production company El Terrat of Catalan late night show host Andreu Buenafuente (picture).

El Terrat would become responsable for the communication of the project of the former Barcelona sports vice-president. Buenafuente has meanwhile confirmed the news through his Twitter account.

The company is said to have already started working on a campaign that will reportedly be based on fair play and that won't look for the confrontation with the other candidates who will run for president in the elections on 13 June.

Read more:
Benedito signs ex-campaign director Laporta
Rosell continues to be favourite for the gamblers
Laporta meets with Obama campaign advisers

The Quote: Joan Gaspart

"What went wrong when I was president, was that I was president. The ego and the human weaknesses made me take up a position for which I'm no good."


Joan Gaspart,
former Barcelona president

read more election quotes here

Poll: Who would you vote for?

Llaurado close to renouncing his candidacy

While several sources continue to claim that former Barcelona vice-president Jaume Llauradó will participate in the presidential elections in the summer (read more here), Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Llauradó is more likely not to run for president.

The Catalan businessman would be close to making the decision not to set up an own candidacy and to not actively getting involved in the elections. Llauradó would already be holding talks with other candidates trying to convince them to take part in electoral debates that will be organized by Barcelona think tank Fòrum Samitier.

Catalan sports weekly paper Gol claims that the participation of Llauradó depends on the final number of candidates that will run for president. The ex-director would only want to take part if there are only two, at the most three, other candidacies.

Jaume Llauradó was a pre-candidate in the elections of 1997 and 2000, when he ended up joining the candidacy of the later president Joan Gaspart, in whose board Llauradó was a vice-president from 2000 until he resigned after one year because he didn't agree with the way the club was governed.

In 2003, he was a presidential candidate but finished 6th and last in the elections won by Joan Laporta. He obtained 987 votes (1,91%), which was considerably lower than the number of signatures he had been able to collect. Llauradó is also the president of FC Barcelona think tank Fòrum Samitier.

Read more:
Llaurado confirms that he will run
Poll result: Who will you vote for?
Will Llaurado run for the fourth time?

Which directors will stay on until June?

According to Article 38.f of the statutes of FC Barcelona, the members of Barcelona's board of directors who want to present themselves for re-election, should resign and leave their position a few weeks before the elections.

For the board to be able to continue the current mandate until the end of the term at the end of June of this year, the board should at least keep one third of the board members, with Article 32.4 of the club's statutes saying:

"If the resignation, renouncement or cessation of the members of the Board of Directors is produced in a simultaneous and generalised fashion, a Management Commission must be constituted to substitute the Board of Directors. […]

Concerning the previous regulation, an exception is made in the case of generalised and simultaneous resignation of the Board members when this is done in order to stand for new elections called for the natural end of the term of office […].

In this case, if the Board still has a minimum of a third of the number of its members at the time of cessation, the Management Commission will not be constituted and the Board, through the remaining members, will maintain its functions for the transitory period of the election process."

Because the board has currently seventeen members, at least six directors should stay on. Catalan sports paper El 9 Esportiu claims that the initial plan was that five of the current directors would continue: president Joan Laporta, economic vice-president Joan Boix, sports vice-president Rafael Yuste, board secretary Josep Cubells and director Maria Elena Fort

Besides those five people, Barcelona would like to soon add another member to the board, which should be a lawyer who could monitor the election process. The two candidates are reportedly Xavier-Albert Canal and Jaume Alonso Cuevillas (read more here).

During the last board meeting at the end of February, current director Jacint Borràs, the president of Barcelona Atlètic, would also have said that he wants to continue. Borràs, who supports the candidacy of current assets vice-president Jaume Ferrer, would that way want to control the fairness of the election process from within the club.

Read more:
How many people will be able to vote?
New board member to be appointed this month
Could president Laporta become vice-president?

The Quote: Sandro Rosell

"Football clubs are a business,
except Barça, which is a feeling and a passion."


Sandro Rosell,
Barcelona presidential candidate

read more election quotes here

The Slogan: Jaume Ferrer

"We know how to do it"


'Sabem com fer-ho' would be one of the campaign slogans that will be used by Barcelona assets vice-president and presidential candidate Jaume Ferrer ahead of the elections in June

read more election quotes here

Soriano carrying out election poll

Catalan online newspaper El Debat claims that former Barcelona economic vice-president Ferran Soriano has ordered a poll among Barcelona club members to know what they think about a possible candidacy led by the chairman of Spanish airline Spanair, who would already be looking for a campaign headquarters.

Read more:
Soriano preparing candidacy
Rosell continues to be favourite for the gamblers
Soriano dines with former board colleagues

Benedito: "The media already have their favourites"

This blog had an exclusive interview with Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito.


BUDGET You have said that you have a maximum budget of 500.000 euros for the campaign. As transparency is one of your key points: how many do you have left?
Enough to get to the finish.

What are the biggest costs for a candidate?
I'm going to explain you and I can also advance that when we will have launched our new website, we will start to implement the policy of transparency by publishing our accounts on there. The first challenge for a candidate is to break into the media because that is the main place where the electoral battle is being decided. They are crucial channels through which you can explain your project to the social mass of the club. We will have more difficulties than Sandro Rosell or the continuity candidates because the media already have their policies and interests in favour of this or that candidate. The first major expense is the collection of signatures because you have to build a very powerful organization capable of collecting around 2.000 signatures in two weeks. In addition, you have to add some costs in case you win the elections, namely the bank guarantees of all board members. That leads to a democratic deficit at the club because being president is not possible for every club member, and even less if, as is stated by other candidates, they want to create a one billion Barça. In any case, setting up a campaign like this one costs a lot. But that doesn't worry us. Many of us believe in a Barça that is close to and the heir to the best traditions of the club, and everyone who believes in this project is ready to collaborate in whatever way.

OWNERS OF THE CLUB You say that the more than 170.000 members are the owners of the club. Isn't that a limited - and an electoral - view and aren't you excluding millions of Barcelona fans that maybe aren't legal owners but nevertheless are moral owners?
On the contrary, we will propose different formulas to be linked with the club so that every person, anywhere in the world, can make a choice according to his needs. It is estimated that worldwide there are millions of fans of FC Barcelona. There is talk about the more than 176.000 members, but nobody talks about the 10.000 who don't renew their membership each year. That means that we need new ways to experience the club. Everybody has his place in the Barcelona family and we have to propose ways that allow everyone to join in.

CATALAN IDENTITY You want Catalonia to be independent?
I have my personal opinion, but as president of Barça, that opinion would have no value at all, just because I think the position should not be used to do politics. And do not get me wrong, nobody can diminish, not even with an inch, the Catalan character of FC Barcelona, which is part of the essence of the club, but in the Barcelona family all opinions have a place. In fact, my team is a reflection of this heterogeneity of the social mass of the club. Regardless of individual political ideas, I want to be the president of all Barcelona fans.

PACTS You have said that you will not close a deal with anyone and that you are convinced that you will pass the signatures' cut. What would you do if in the end you don't obtain the necessary signatures and all other candidates (Ferrer, Godall, Guixà, Rosell) offer you a compromise? To whom do you feel closest, in terms of personality and/or club model?
I am convinced that we will get enough signatures, so I don't even consider to strike a deal, nor do I feel close to any of the other candidacies. I think we have a project that is different from the others, which has a significant support and which we want to share with the rest of the Barcelona fans.

PARTCIPATION IN THE ELECTIONS The participation of club members is a cornerstone of your project. Do you want to introduce online voting, voting by mail and/or voting by delegation?
Any instrument that increases the participation is positive for us, if you comply with all democratic guarantees. Voting by mail or through the internet is already used for years and without any problem by professional organizations and other institutions. A key element of our project is the involvement of the club member. We for example believe that the Assembly of Delegates must have a real and effective representativeness. We also offer tools to increase the responsibility of the members.

SPORTS AREA You do not want to continue with Txiki Begiristain as sports director. Why?
Txiki Begiristain has his share of responsibility in the team's sporting successes, but as is the case with the president, I think he has come to the end of a cycle and we will not count on him if we would win.

You have also suggested that you want to remodel the current structure (sports vice-president – sports director – coach) a bit but that you are going to discuss your plan with the current coach, Josep Guardiola. At the press conference after his verbal renewal, Guardiola has said that he does not want more power and that he would like Txiki Begiristain to continue. What if Guardiola opposes your restructuring plans or if there's no 'feeling' between him and the people responsible of the sports area of your candidacy? Or if Guardiola simply asks to continue with the current structure, including Begiristain, and to only change the sports vice-president?
We have an idea about the sports structure that includes some differences from the current model, but like the other candidates, we first want to talk with Guardiola. I'm sure we will reach an agreement with him regarding the sports structure.

INTERNATIONALIZATION 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 the roots - needs to have a more global focus? You have a plan to make Barça grow abroad?
Barca can grow, there's no doubt about that. Barça is the most feared team on the pitch, and should become the most loved club in the world. The key is to facilitate the relationship of the Barcelona fans with the club, according to their needs. Moreover, we need to recover traditional supports we had in Spain and that we are losing because of the actions of the current board.

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. you can read an exclusive interview with barcelona presidential candidate jaume guixà here.

Read more:
Benedito putting emphasis on financial transparency
Ferrer has biggest media impact
Benedito: "I don't plan to announce transfers"

Cartoon 27: Laporta brooding on election tactics

Laporta:
After having expelled Giralt, I have an even better idea...

Let's expell all the opposition candidates!

Oliver:
They should learn from this, as the prophet said!


(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by kap

source:
el mundo deportivo

check more election cartoons here

Rosell wants to continue collaboration with Unicef

Speaking to journalists at a sports conference in Barcelona yesterday (read more here), Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell has said that he will present his project during the first week of May but he already suggested that he would want the team to keep on carrying Unicef on the shirt:

"The contract with Unicef is sustainable if you have the patience to continue with it. In the short term you can discuss about the decision being good or bad, but there is no doubt that it's a great thing in the medium or long term, which in the world of marketing is seven, eight or ten years.

Could a commercial sponsor be included, together with Unicef? That depends on the club's finances. First you have to see what the real economic situation of the club is and then you can make decisions that are more or less altruistic. If you don't know the numbers, you can not give a well-founded opinion."

Read more:
Rosell continues to be favourite for the gamblers
The three areas and vice-presidents of Rosell
A biography of Sandro Rosell

The Pundit: Alex Santos on chances Ferrer

« If I would have fifty euros too much, I wouldn't put them on Ferrer winning the presidential elections of Barça. Not now. Who has not buried Ferrer in recent months? Who has not heard that he would join the team of Sandro Rosell, or that of Alfons Godall, or, more recently, that of the duo Soriano-Godall? Who gives a dime for Jaume Ferrer? Not even god. »

Alex Santos,
blog

check more pundit talk

Guixa getting ready to collect the signatures

Speaking to Barcelona site Eleccions FCB, Eugeni Casas [picture, at the right], the campaign director of Barcelona presidential candidate Jaume Guixà [picture, in the centre], has said that the candidacy is already preparing to gather the more than 2000 signatures of club members needed to take part in the final vote:

"We will get them. The first time [in 2006] we weren't ready for it. Now we are. We can count on a team of 22 people who are working every day to prepare the collection of the signatures and the campaign. We are very motivated and we're sure that Jaume Guixà is a serious candidate to win the elections.

We are convinced that we will obtain the signatures. And moreover, our signatures will be 100% reliable and there won't be any doubles among them, as will happen with the other candidates. We will fight until the last day to convince the club members. We are the real alternative."

Read more:
Guixa asks president Laporta to resign
Everybody knows Sandro Rosell
Guixa: "Barça is a feeling"

The Number: 2.2

2,2


percentage of voting intentions for the presidential candidacy of Joan Laporta in a poll published by Catalan sports paper Sport on 30 April 2003, one and a half month before the elections on 15 June 2003

read more election quotes & numbers here

Soriano preparing candidacy

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that former Barcelona economic vice-president Ferran Soriano has in the last weeks intensified the preparation of his candidacy ahead of the presidential elections in June.

Soriano would have decided to run for president although the candidacy wouldn't be announced soon. The chairman of Spanair is now reportedly finishing his election program and the composition of his board team and management structure.

Among other things, Soriano would have met with the seven board members who left the club together with him in 2008 (read more here). Of those ex-directors, former vice-presidents Albert Vicens and Marc Ingla would certainly be willing to join his candidacy, others are still considering the options and one of them would not actively take part but give his support to the project.

Soriano would also be open for current board members to become a part of his candidacy although under the condition that Soriano stays the presidential candidate. Catalan sports weekly paper Gol claimed a couple of weeks ago that Soriano has already a deal with the candidacy of current Barcelona first vice-president Alfons Godall.

Of the candidacy of Godall, Soriano would want to add Godall, Barcelona treasurer Xavier Sala i Martín and director Magda Oranich to his team. He would also try to include vice-president Jaume Ferrer and director Alfons Castro in his project. Soriano would not count on vice-presidents Joan Boix, Rafael Yuste and Albert Perrín, nor on directors Josep-Ignasi Macià and Xavier Bagués.

Read more:
All options are still open for Soriano
How much does it cost to become a director?
Soriano dines with former board colleagues

Former player Belletti gives support to Rosell

Catalan sports player Sport claims that former Barcelona player Juliano Belletti supports the candidacy of Sandro Rosell ahead of the presidential elections in June. Belletti joined Barcelona in the summer of 2004 when Rosell was the club's sports vice-president. In 2007, he left for English Premier League club Chelsea.

Earlier this month, the 33-year old Brazilian right back defender said in an interview with Brazilian sports site UOL Esporte that he hopes to get a position at the club after he retires as an active player:

"Barcelona is the place where I want to live after having finished my career. Whenever I have time off, I'm going there. I have a house there, some businesses, friendships with the players, with the president. My wife also has friends there. I have the idea of becoming a sort of ambassador of Barcelona, working for the club, there or elsewhere. But a lot depends on what they offer you."

Read more:
Rosell could present project year after goal Iniesta
Abidal wants current directors to win elections
Rooney could become electoral transfer target

The Quote: Lluis Bassat

"In 2003, I had to sell an apartment I had bought for my son, to pay the debts of the campaign, because some other people of my candidacy didn't want to pay their part of the costs."


Lluís Bassat,
Barcelona presidential candidate in 2000 and 2003

read more election quotes here

Could Sala i Martin still be a candidate?

Speaking at an event organized by Spanish sports weekly paper Don Balón, Barcelona assets vice-president Jaume Ferrer has said last week that he thinks it's still possible that Barcelona tresurer Xavier Sala i Martín will in the end run for president:

"I'm not totally convinced that Sala i Martín won't head the candidacy that is now led by Godall. In fact, it's still an option, because there are several months or weeks left during which he can become the candidate."

Read more:
Sala still didn't exclude being a candidate
Soriano could lead united board candidacy
Laporta: "I believe in Sala i Martin"

Rexach trying to set up campaign

In his weekly column in Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo, former Barcelona player and coach Carles Rexach has said that he is earnestly looking at the option to take part in the presidential elections after a Facebook group in his support reached more than 5.000 members (read more here):

"Last week, when I wrote my article, there didn't yet were 5.000 fans who supported me on Facebook. Now I've already passed that barrier and, as promised, I'm seriously considering the possibility of running for president.

I have been a player, assistant coach, manager and sports director at Barça, so the only thing I have left is to become director or president. I will work very hard for the people who have given me their support. To be able to have a chance, I will now have to find a reliable team.

If I will have succeeded in doing that, then it will be time to put on paper the ideas I have in my head, knowing that at the sporting level you have to change very little. But for now, step by step, we should create a group."

Read more:
Rexach seriously considering to run for president
Poll result: Would Rexach be good president?
Rexach has Facebook support he asked for

Benedito: "I feel heir to the 2003 project"

This blog had an exclusive interview with Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito.


PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES You are a business consultant. That is a somewhat vague concept. Can you make that a bit more concrete, give some examples of the work you do?
After having worked for 20 years in the family business [note: the benedito family has been for decades car dealers in barcelona], I decided to get involved in other professional projects that keep an eye on the future. They are long term projects in which I try to implement my management skills and my knowledge of business strategies. Although in recent months I have decided to move this to the background and to focus on our project for FC Barcelona.

Your job could create incompatibilities when you would be elected as president?
My professional activities are fully compatible with the presidency of FC Barcelona, as also the majority of the presidents in the history of the club have continued with their respective careers. Moreover, in my case, there won't be any conflicts of interest, unlike what has happened with the current board or what could happen with the professional activities of Sandro Rosell. And besides that, we are committed to a policy of full transparency and we will make public the personal estates of all members of our board.

DECISION TO TAKE PART IN THE ELECTIONS Do you remember when the idea to run for president of Barça first crossed your mind?
It's not about one moment, the idea starts to grow and develops through discussions with many Barcelona fans, and even by listening to the people next to me in the stands of the Camp Nou. We are a group of more than 200 people who share a same vision of a club, the same concerns, and we have found each other. And we're leading a much broader movement.

You already thought about it before you left the club on 26 February last year?
When I left the club, I had no intention at all of being a candidate. We seriously began to consider the idea several months later.

JOAN LAPORTA You know Joan Laporta, the current president of FC Barcelona, since 1996. What were your first impressions after having met Laporta back then? What kind of person was he at that time?
It has been seven years of working for Barcelona outside the club, to start with in the elections of 1997 and later as founders of the 'Elefant Blau'. When I met Laporta, we were Barcelona fans who shared the same ideals for the club: youth, renewal, honesty, transparency and participation of the club members. I feel heir to those ideals and to the 2003 project, that won the elections with a strong support from the club members and has proved to be successful. I continue to think that that project, when it is renewed and revised, is the best one for the club.

Could you already predict in the 1990s what has happened since then? Joan Laporta has surprised you, both in a positive and a negative way?
I could not imagine what would happen. I am not a fortune-teller. Joan Laporta has undergone a process of growing vanity, an evolution towards personalism and megalomania, which has seriously damaged that winning project of 2003.

DIRECTOR Why have you never been appointed as a member of the board of directors of Barça, not in 2003 - when there maybe weren't enough places to fulfil the demands of the different factions - nor in later years when many directors left the club and the president seemed to replace them with people from his closest entourage, where you have been part of.
I have never linked my commitment towards Barcelona to the chance of holding some position. Only once, at the beginning of the mandate in 2003, Laporta raised the possibility of me being a director, but my personal situation prevented me from accepting it. During the next six years, the clashes with Laporta became more and more frequent, but I continued to work for the club, trying to defend the original project and ideals. I believed that I could have more influence from within the club, and not with confrontations in public, through the media. And so I stayed until what is known as the 'Uzbekistan case', when president Laporta tried to make a profit from the sale of Mallorca, acting as intermediary with a commercial partner of FC Barcelona.

COMMISSIONS You've been a member of the social commission and the sports commission of the club. Those tasks are little known by many Barcelona fans. What were you concretely doing during those years, from 2003 to 2009?
I had no power of decision because I was never part of the board, but they were six years of intense work in the day-to-day of the club, both at the social commission and at the sports commissions that deals with all professional sports sections of the club. For example, during my collaboration with the basketball section, I am particularly proud to have defended before the board of directors the risky choice of Xavi Pascual [current coach of the basketball team], as the substitute of Dusko Ivanovic. We are now seeing the results of that.

BEING A LEADER You have always been in the second - or third - row, while since a few months now you give interview after interview, you lead a project, you have meetings with fan clubs and journalists, and so on. How was the transition to this new role? Was it something natural or are you still adapting?
It is not the first time that I lead a project because I did the same as chief executive of the group of family businesses, and in recent years I have also stimulated other projects. I'm used to coordinate teams and to make decisions. But in the end, the most important thing is that I am the visible face of the group of people behind the project.

2016 Some people say that your real goal is not the elections on 13 June but the next elections, that in theory will be held in 2016, just as the goal of Laporta's candidacy in 2003 was perhaps not the 2003 elections but the next ones. Are you a patient person?
We cannot think about 2016 because the 2010 elections are crucial for the club and that's why we have been working for five months. It is nevertheless true that if we don't win and no one implements our ideas, I do not exclude to continue defending our project because behind me there are many active people, who have a same way of understanding the club and whose commitment goes beyond one election process. And I have been working for the club for 13 years, so you can imagine that I'm patient. First seven hard years outside of the club, where we were even accused of being anti-Barcelona during the time of the 'Elefant Blau'. And then six years inside the club doing ground work, that does not have any media impact but which is fundamental for the club.

this was the first part of this interview. you can read the second part here. you can read an exclusive interview with barcelona presidential candidate jaume guixà here.

Read more:
Benedito putting emphasis on financial transparency
Ferrer has biggest media impact
Benedito: "I don't plan to announce transfers"

Poll result: Guardiola deal affects next president?

Do you think that the renewal agreement between Laporta and Guardiola limits the next president?

No 63%
Yes 37%

total votes: 4362
start date poll: 20 january 2010
poll method: internet, free participation
source: sport

The Quote: Andres Iniesta

"Laporta will go down in history as one of the best Barça presidents ever."


Andrés Iniesta,
Barcelona player

read more election quotes here

Historical snowfall in Barcelona

Barcelona is today having the heaviest snowfall in 25 years.

picture taken at the centre of Barcelona in front of the campaign headquarters of Barcelona first vice-president and presidential candidate Alfons Godall at the beginning of the snowing yesterday afternoon.

Another Rosell could take part in the elections

Catalan sports weekly paper Gol claims that Catalan businessman Joan Rosell might take part in the elections in June after former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart could have recommended to possible candidate Ferran Soriano to include Rosell in his candidacy.

Joan Rosell is a 62-year old businessman who is most known as the president of the 'Foment del Treball Nacional', the federation of Catalan employers. Rosell, who has in the past several times been rumoured to run for president himself, is also a board member of the club's foundation.

Read more:
All options are still open for Soriano
Masfurroll cautious about election involvement
The three areas and vice-presidents of Rosell

Laporta wants exemplary elections

Speaking at a fan club meeting in the Catalan town of Sabadell, Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said that he hopes for a model elecion process and repeated his support for the candidacy of Barcelona first vice-president Alfons Godall:

"We are starting an election process in which I cannot run and all we want is for the elections to be exemplary, that all those who run can compete on equal terms. We want elections that have the highest participation possible, in which the club member should decide.

The only thing I ask those who take part is to maintain the values that, in my opinion, the president and his board should have, namely experience, consistency, honesty and responsibility.

I think that I don't violate any rule when, as a club member, I say that in my opinion Godall has all the values I just mentioned and I can know this because being the president is not easy, it changes your life.

Godall, Sala i Martín and their team have the expertise that is needed to continue with this model, that we cannot squander. A model that has given us the current successes, and we're only a half-way.

We have a great ride ahead, in all aspects, and especially regarding the football team, since most of our players have a lot of years left. They are playing the football we love and which should be continued for a long time."

Read more:
In our model, the coach coaches (by Alfons Godall)
Sala wants to attract sponsor for Unicef logo
Could president Laporta become vice-president?

Most read of the week

these were the three most read blog posts of the past week:


1.
This blog involved in the election campaign

2.
The Catalan Cave: Cristian Pulina (Eurosport)

3.
Guixa asks president Laporta to resign

Soriano dines with former board colleagues

Several Catalan media report that former Barcelona economic vice-president Ferran Soriano has on Thursday evening held a dinner at his house in Barcelona to discuss his participation in the elections for president of FC Barcelona in June.

Catalan newspaper El Periódico claims that all seven board members who left the club together with Soriano in 2008 were present: former vice-presidents Albert Vicens and Marc Ingla, and former board members Xavier Cambra, Antoni Rovira, Clàudia Vives-Fierro, Evarist Murtra and Josep Lluís Vilaseca. Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Murtra didn't take part.

Read more:
What will the original 2003 board members do?
The Board Movements (2003-2009)
What will Evarist Murtra do?

on the picture (front row, from left to right): marc ingla, antoni rovira, ferran soriano, clàudia vives-fierro, josep lluis vilaseca, evarist murtra, xavier cambra

Nunez takes distance from candidate

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that former Barcelona president Josep Lluís Núñez distances himself from Catalan businessman Juan Manuel Alcaraz [picture], who would be seriously considering to be a candidate in the upcoming elections for president of FC Barcelona (read more here).

The entourage of the ex-president would have made clear to the paper that there's no link at all between Núñez and Alcaraz after reports in the press suggested that Alcaraz would be the candidate that could get the support of the Núñez family. The former president would not plan to take part in any way in the elections.

Read more:
Businessman linked with Nunez to run for president
New candidates getting ready to appear on stage
Former director Castells considering election role

Rosell continues to be favourite for the gamblers

Madrid sports tabloid Marca reports that former Barcelona sports vice-president Sandro Rosell is for the gamblers at online betting site 'Betfair' still the favourite to be chosen as president of FC Barcelona later this year (read more here).

Rosell was on Friday noted at 1,22 euro for each euro input, with Barcelona first vice-president Alfons Godall at this moment being seen as his biggest rival, with a rate of 4,00.

Former Barcelona economic vice-president Ferran Soriano and current Barcelona assets vice-president Jaume Ferrer are currently ranked third and fourth with rates of respectively 8,00 and 8,22.

The ranking
Sandro Rosell: 1,22
Alfons Godall: 4,00
Ferran Soriano: 8,00
Jaume Ferrer: 8,22
Francesc Mañé: 13,00
Agustí Benedito: 16,00
Jaume Guixà: 16,00

Read more:
Rosell favourite for the gamblers
Poll result: Who will you vote for?
Ferrer feels backed by own poll