Rosell wants to regulate new members

Asked about his supposed plan to limit the number of club members of FC Barcelona, Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell has said in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC 1 that his candidacy doesn't want to limit but to regulate the number of members:

"We don't have too many club members. All members are members of Barça, they are the owners of the club and have the same rights. But we should regulate the entrance of new club members for several reasons, in the first place because of the identity of the club.

We have already 3.000-4.000 Japanese club members, which is good but one day we could have 50.000. Or 50.000 Chinese or 50.000 Russians, it's the same. And those 50.000 Russians could one day decide that the president of Barça would be a Russian. He should have his legal residence in Catalonia, but that's easy.

So we should regulate the entrance of new club members to keep the identity of the club. Another reason is that you cannot have more club members than you have seats at the Camp Nou because a club member in the end wants to go and watch the games. We are happy with all club members we have but we should see how we can regulate things."

Read more:
Benedito could limit number of club members
Cardoner: "The member always has the last word"
The program of Sandro Rosell

[picture] Ingla taking part in run

The candidacy of Marc Ingla organized on Sunday morning a run in the surroundings of the Camp Nou.

The Quotes: Ferrer, Salvat, Godall, Rosell, Ingla

"99% of the program is Rosell is the same as what the club is already doing right now."

Jaume Ferrer


"The Camp Nou should have some 19.000 more seats."

Santiago Salvat


"I think it's possible that we will have four or five candidates at the final vote."

Alfons Godall


"The Boixos Nois had a more violent faction and one that wasn't violent. Not all Boixos Nois were what the people thought. There are good Boixos Nois who love the club and who support the club in the stadium, and who are now part of other groups. We will unite all the non-violent animation groups in one part of the stadium."

Sandro Rosell


"I don't have the natural leadership of Ferran Soriano but I do have the same way of thinking."

Marc Ingla

read more election quotes here

Ingla denies he didn't want Unicef on shirt

Speaking at a meeting with Barcelona fans at his campaign headquarters, Barcelona presidential candidate and asset vice-president Jaume Ferrer has said that his opponent and former marketing and sports vice-president Marc Ingla didn't want to put Unicef on the shirt of the club in 2006:

"I'm happy that Ingla now wants to continue with the Unicef model, while he preferred another model which was that of Betandwin, now Bwin. He also approved the option of 'Beijing 2008', the Olympic Games in Beijing. So I'm happy that he at this moment wishes to keep the model of 'More than a club' that includes a solidary commitment."

Asked about the statement of Ferrer, Ingla denied at a press meeting organized by Spanish sports weekly paper Don Balón to have been against Unicef as shirt sponsor and that he, in his function of marketing vice-president, had presented all options to his board colleagues in order for them to make a decision:

"This is not true. What is true is that I led the search for what we would put on the shirts. My main task as marketing vice-president was to explain the different options to the board, with all the positive and negative aspects, so to give the directors the chance to make a decision.

I presented several options to the board, some of which included big amounts of money, more than Madrid is currently getting for their shirt. There was Betandwin and also Beijing 2008. The chance of being linked with the Olympic Games and China when the country had just started a process of opening itself to the world seemed interesting.

But in the end we thought that the Unicef project was the most revolutionary one. I was in charge of that decision and I in fact personally went to New York to present the project to Unicef, starting the contacts with Unicef representatives first in Barcelona and later in Madrid and Geneva. So I was one of the key people in that deal."

Read more:
Ingla: "Barça should be reference of 21st century"
Ferrer: "I know how do this"
Ingla plans referendums on shirts and stadium

Plaza considers Alexanko as sports director

Speaking at a press conference, Barcelona presidential candidate Alexis Plaza has said that if current Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain wants to leave the club this summer, his candidacy would offer Barcelona youth director Alexanko to replace him:

"If Txiki wants to continue, we support that option since he has done a good job. He made some mistakes but he also made a lot of good signings like those of Keita, Alves or Touré. If he doesn't want to stay next season, we think that Alexanko could replace him."

José Ramón Alexanko (53) played for Barcelona between 1980 and 1993. As a player of Barcelona, the Basque central defender won - among other trophies - four Spanish league titles, four Spanish cups, one Champions League and two European cup winners' cups. Alexanko was in 2005 appointed as the director of the club's youth academy.

Read more:
Daughter of Stoichkov joins Plaza candidacy
Three 'Dream Team' players in candidacy Guixa
Ex-players Amor and Migueli linked with Rosell

Ayats: "Guardiola already knows us"

Carles Ayats, a member of the candidacy of Barcelona presidential candidate Jaume Ferrer, gave an interview to Catalan sports paper El 9 Esportiu.


You're one of the few new faces in this election race. When did your relationship with Jaume Ferrer start?
I'm a very big Barça fan and I met Jaume 4 or 5 years ago through mutual friends. I have always firmly believed that he would be the successor of Laporta. And when he made the step forward, I did not hesitate to offer him my help.

The leaders of the three main candidacies were part of that same board of 2003. What differentiates you from the other candidates?
I think we are the only ones that guarantee the continuation of a project that has given us great results. We have a project that works and it would now be very risky to change that. We have to wait for more details about the other candidates, but for us things are clear: we want a president who does not intervene in the sporting decisions, who lets the professionals shine and who keeps the current structure.

What do you think when other candidates, like Marc Ingla, are also claiming this model?
Ingla left the club and did not participate in the year in which the team achieved the biggest successes in the history of the club. When one needed to have the responsibility to hold on, he couldn't deal with the pressure.

You also talk about getting closer to the members...
Both the members as the fan clubs claim that the board would be closer to them, that the president participates in more events... In the case of the fan clubs, we are committed to put into practice their 'XXI century' project, that was proposed to us by their advisory council. The fan clubs ask for more self-management and we will look for a good deal for everyone.

What feelings do you have after the meetings with members and fan clubs?
We feel that the members are proud to belong to this club. Not only for the football team but also for the other sections, which are now at a very high level. The results and the management over the last seven years with great economic and sporting achievements support our claim.

What does it mean to have the explicit support of president Laporta?
We appreciate his support, but we had already set up our candidacy before that he pronounced. Our project has not changed at all after that.

Do you believe that Pep Guardiola will feel comfortable with your project?
As a professional, I'm sure he will not speak out, he's part of the club not of a candidacy. But the member is intelligent and knows that with us, Pep will certainly feel comfortable because he already knows us.

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

Read more:
Ferrer: "Guardiola and Begiristian are untouchable"
Ferrer presenting three new team members
Ferrer wants to personally head social area

interview: dani colmena

Rosell wants Guardiola for six more years

Asked about the future of Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola, Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell has said in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC 1 that he would want Guardiola to stay for the full length of his mandate:

"If I'm elected as president, I would like to sign Guardiola for many years because the stability regarding the coach also gives stability to the club, as well as economic stability. Because a new coach always asks to sign several players and wants some others out which has a negative effect on the finances of the club.

I would like it a lot if he would be in charge for the next six years and that will in fact be the first thing that we will propose to him. Starting from there, you will need to sit down and talk since you should know how the other party sees it, what his demands are and how motivated he is to start a period of six years. But whatever the outcome is, I don't have any doubt we will reach very quickly a deal with Pep."

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo had earlier said that Rosell would offer Guardiola a contract for the total period of the president's term in office, that would bind Barcelona for six years but that would give Guardiola the chance to renew his stay at the club year by year.

Read more:
The program of Sandro Rosell
Guardiola will sign renewal after elections
Rosell leading in university poll

Most read of the week

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


1.
Live Coverage: Press conference Sandro Rosell

2.
Godall: "Rosell has similarities with Florentino"

3.
Cardoner: "The member always has the last word"

The Quotes: Oliver, Ingla, Salvat, Rosell, Plaza

"118.663 club members will be able to vote."

Joan Oliver


"Rosell was the first element of destabilization in our first season at the club, which was a critical year for us at a financial and sporting level. He acted immaturely."

Marc Ingla


"As a boy, I wanted to be a player. Laureano Ruiz [former coach of the youth academy] came for me twice when I was playing at Escolapis de Sarrià, and my father each time asked him: 'Will he become a Maradona?' And after the reply that you cannot predict that, my father always said: 'Well, then he should continue to study'."

Santiago Salvat


"The club has a debt of 489 million euros."

Sandro Rosell


"The only continuism possible is that of the team."

Alexis Plaza

read more election quotes here

Torres not rejecting approach by Rosell

British tabloid The Daily Mail claims that Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell has contacted the representatives of Liverpool forward Fernando Torres (26). With the player being concerned over speculation surrounding his club's future, Rosell is said to have been encouraged by the response he got.

Torres would be a possible substitute of Barcelona forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has reportedly been offered to English Premier League clubs Chelsea and Manchester City but the two teams would prefer to sign Torres, who would cost around 82 million euros. If Barcelona would sign Valencia striker David Villa in the coming weeks, a transfer of Torres would become difficult.

Read more:
Torres confirms good relationship with Rosell
Villa to be presented before the elections
The program of Sandro Rosell

Benedito: "We want to listen to the member"

Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito gave an interview to Spanish football site Mercafutbol.

translation: jakob zsambok

Were you disappointed when you saw the election timetable?
Maybe disappointed is the wrong word, but the club statutes indicate that the election date should be a date which promotes maximum participation in the election. So in theory the elections should be held on a game day. As it is now, the collection of signatures has to start on 14 May [note: the collection will in the end start on 17 may]. With this decision we have to validate all the signatures in two instead of three days.

The board are justifying the election date, because they wanted to make sure the election process doesn't detract the first team.
I don't know how they can justify that this way, because I do not understand how a football player can be detracted by something that happens outside of the stadium. It doesn't make any sense.

Anyway, you contacted more than 2.300 cub members and traveled 12.000 kilometres to promote your candidacy, and you have about 5.000 contacts on facebook, so it surely shouldn't be much of a problem for you to collect the required 2095 signatures?
It's true we've already had the honour to talk with many of the socios, and we wish to continue to do so. To talk and, above all, to listen. Right now my facebook account has exceeded the limit of new friends request, but we also have many other support groups.
We believe that by continuing to work with the same conviction, we will reach the required signatures. Over the last six months, we have received a great deal of support, so we wont stop.

What about the other candidates, which ones do you think will have more problems getting the required signatures?
I don't know how the final days of the election will work out, but because of my experience with other elections, I can say that getting the signatures requires hard work by any candidate. You have to do a lot of talking with the members, to try to convince them of your project, it's not an easy thing to do. I saw other candidates who did not talk with the socios at all. In the last six months, I tried to talk to as many as possible, I don't know how the others gather their support, but in any case I'm sure Sandro Rosell will obtain the required signatures, because he had a lot of time to prepare for his campaign. As for the others, I'm not sure.

We talked about facebook. The importance of new technologies in this campaign is incredible.
I think it all roots in the positive evolution of our society. Social networks are becoming more important every day, and as a consequence, Barça has to adapt to those changes. Obviously this wasn't the case in previous elections.

Did you use facebook or twitter before your candidacy?
I did use facebook but just for my close friends, I never used twitter before.

If you win the elections, will you use those technologies to get closer to the socios?
Definitely! They are very powerful tools, with some limitations though, because they do not reach all age groups, but those elements are anyway gradually gaining more importance.

The importance of the new technologies is one of the big differences of this election process in comparison to those of the past. Did you spot any other differences, as you have already participated in four previous elections?
For us there were not many other differences to previous elections, because our principle has always been to get as close as possible to the members. We like to say that our secret weapon are the people, we didn't change our willingness to listen and to look after the member.
What did change are the types of members, because of the current 168.000 members, 88.000 have joined the club after the election of Laporta. That means those members haven't been members for a long time. There were also 40.000 who joined but already left. So we have to assume that there is a greater volatility in comparison to previous elections where we had a fixed group of members with a large number of guaranteed voters.

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

Read more:
Benedito: "Our secret weapon are the people"
[pictures] Presidential candidates in Paris
Benedito says others have political and media links

interview: elena fernández

Guixa presents campaign logo and slogan

Barcelona presidential candidate Jaume Guixà has yesterday presented his campaign logo. The slogan he will use during the coming weeks will be "Un nou estil" [A new style].

Ferrer will also use a campaign bus

Barcelona presidential candidate Jaume Ferrer has announced in a press release that he will use a campaign bus in the coming weeks to collect signatures of club members. The bus will make his first ride on Sunday in the surroundings of the Camp Nou stadium where Barcelona will play the last league game against Valladolid.

Read more:
Ferrer wants to personally head social area
[Video] Benedito presenting his campaign bus
Ferrer and Ingla met last weekend

[picture] The women of Sandro Rosell

Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell met yesterday with a group of female Barcelona fans.

The electoral proceedings

by xaviniesta

On Monday 30 April, the Barcelona board of directors officially called the elections for Barcelona president on 13 June 2010. The Board, in the exercise of their mandate under the club statutes, in particular articles 39 and 50, agreed that the following proceedings will be observed in the conduct of the elections.

1. Creation of the Electoral Commission and Committee
The members of the Electoral Commission and Electoral Committee will be drawn in a public event to be held at the club premises on Friday 14 May. These electoral bodies will be formally constituted on Sunday 16 May.

2. Posting of the Electoral Roll
The official electoral roll, or list of qualified voters, will be made available at the FCB Supporters Service Office starting Monday 17 May until Friday 21 May for consultation and reference of the club members. Claims against the electoral roll must be made in writing and presented to the Electoral Commission not later than Friday 21 May. The Commission will approve the official electoral roll on May 24, after it shall have dealt with all claims.

3. Submission of candidates' list
The list of candidates must be presented to the Electoral Commission starting Tuesday 25 May until Tuesday 1 June. The list must be in writing and contain at least 14, but not more than 21, members, including one candidate for the Presidency.

4. Submission of letters of support
The candidates' list must be submitted together with no fewer than 2.095 official letters of support from club members as well as an undertaking, in proper legal form, to sign a financial guarantee, if needed.

5. Announcement of qualified candidates
The Electoral Commission will verify that candidates have met the conditions for candidacy and have submitted the required signatures' support, after which it will announce, on 3 June, the candidate lists qualified to stand for elections.

6. One candidate list qualifies or presented
In the event only one candidate list fulfills the requirements, or only candidate list is presented, this candidate list will be declared elected and the electoral process will end.

7. More than one candidate lists qualify or presented
If more than one candidacy qualifies, the electoral process will take its course, starting with the opening of the official campaign period that will run from Friday 4 June and end at Friday 11 June.

8. Day of Reflection
A day of reflection will be observed on Saturday 12 June. Candidates will be prohibited from engaging in any direct or indirect campaign activities such as interviews, passing or publishing of campaign propaganda, putting up of posters, and other similar public actions.

9. Election Day
Voting for a new Barcelona president and his board will take place at the Camp Nou on Sunday 13 June from 9:00 to 21:00.

10. Official count and proclamation of winners
The counting of the ballots will begin immediately after the voting period ends and the winners thereafter proclaimed jointly by the Electoral Commission and Electoral Committee. The new Barcelona president and his board will officially take up their posts on 1 July.

Read more:
Who can vote in the elections?
Official election calendar announced
Who is eligible as president?

[2003] Bassat adds big names to his project

source: el mundo deportivo, friday 16 may 2003, pages 1 and 16

BLOW OF BASSAT

He presents his candidacy today with the incorporation of Alemany and Roca Junyent as people responsible for the Foundation

The publicist wants a change in the statutes that would allow the foundation to have the economic control of Barça


Bassat presents his candidacy today and adds Salvador Alemany and Miquel Roca

The publicist appears on stage today and proposes a change of the statutes that would give the foundation economic and assets control of the club

Lluís Bassat finally presents his candidacy today, at noon, and Salvador Alemany will be on the picture. The publicist has also managed to include in his project Miquel Roca i Junyent, who will be the second man of Alemany at the foundation. In the project that will be proposed, this institution would take the economic control of Barça, which would take a new change of the statutes.

Alemany, who is still the president of the basketball section, has in the end decided to accept the offer of Bassat - and not the one of other candidates like Josep Martínez-Rovira and Jaume Llauradó - after a series of meetings, although Bassat had to accept a number of conditions, including the changes of the statutes that will give great importance to the Foundation.

check more 2003 election stories

Minguella and Medina to be vice-presidents Salvat

Speaking at a press conference, Barcelona presidential candidate Santiago Salvat has said that former Barcelona presidential candidates Josep Maria Minguella [picture, on the left] and Jordi Medina [picture, second from the right] will become vice-presidents if he's elected as president on 13 June:

"Josep María Minguella will be our sports vice-president. Although he has a huge experience, he will not take any decision on his own, but always with the agreement of the coach. And Jordi Medina, who is one of the strongest people in this candidacy, would become the vice-president of the social area."

Read more:
Salvat wants declaration on personal estates
Medina will be vice-president Salvat
Salvat officially presents his candidacy