9:00 -10:00

Ingla: "I feel there's a good atmosphere, let's hope that there's a high turn-out."

Ingla: "I see it's not raining. That's today's first prediction that appears to be wrong."

Marc Ingla arrives at the stadium to vote.

Laporta: "We've managed for Barça to be the number one club in the world. We've done that with a straight attitude and as we said we have dedicated the best years of our lives to the club. We wanted a Catalan, solidary and universal Barça and I think we have achieved that."

Laporta: "I ask the members to go and vote today. I'm sure we'll have model elections and that the member will take part and enjoys this day."

Laporta: "I will leave the club as a satisfied and happy man because I think that my mission has been accomplished."

At 9:28, Barcelona president Joan Laporta has casted his vote.

First reports say that already one hour before the vote, people were approaching the stadium. At this moment, there are already large waiting lines.

Jaume Ferrer has arrived at the stadium. He's nevertheless only expected to vote around 10:30.

The new president will be the 39th president in the history of the club

The four names that are on the ballot paper today are: Agustí Benedito, Jaume Ferrer, Marc Ingla and Jaume Ferrer.

It is expected that around 50.000 members will come to the Camp Nou to vote, which could be more or less the same as in 2003, when 51.618 voted for Joan Laporta as the new president.

118.662 club members have the right to chose the president, which is 24.000 more than in the last elections in 2003.

The vote has started at 9 am at the Camp Nou. We'll cover the events until we know who will be the next president of FC Barcelona.

Poll result: Who do you (not) want to be president?

This is the final result (in percentages) of this blog's Who would you vote for in the elections for president of FC Barcelona? poll that was held one day before the elections:

Sandro Rosell 35,9
Marc Ingla 25,6
Agustí Benedito 20,5
Jaume Ferrer 14,6
Don't know/Don't answer 3,4

This is the final result (in percentages) of this blog's Who do you NOT want to be the next president of FC Barcelona? poll that was held one day before the elections:

Sandro Rosell 61,9
Marc Ingla 12,4
Agustí Benedito 11,9
Jaume Ferrer 9,4
Don't know/Don't answer 4,5

Polls: Who do you (not) want to be president?

(second poll below!)

Live Coverage: Fourth presidential debate

Barcelona presidential candidates Agustí Benedito, Jaume Ferrer, Marc Ingla and Sandro Rosell hold the foourth and last presidential debate on Catalan television channel TV3. Re-fresh!

The presidency of Laporta

Benedito: "Laporta is the president of the best Barça in history. He changed the club at a crucial moment. The problem is that he later forget about the original project."

Ferrer: "Like Guardiola, I would say thanks to the president for those seven years. During this presidency we changed the club. We won a record number of trophies. Economically we've recovered. We have more members and fan clubs than ever."

Ingla: "I also want to say thanks to the president. Another thing I want to point out is the fight against the hooligans. At the end, he made overexposed himself a bit."

Rosell: "The first big decision was to keep the violent people out of the stadium. The second was to put unicef on the shirt, I want to congratulate the coach for that. And thirdly, the appointment of Guardiola. Not good were the political involvement and the link with the members. Economically there are too much expenses."

Sports area

Ferrer: "What is working, shouldn't be touched. We will continue with the same playing style and the same people. We'll put even more emphasis on the youth academy and the other sections."

Ingla: "We want to continue. We also want to keep Txiki, one of the architects of this model, like Rijkaard and Cruyff. If Txiki wouldn't continue, Txiki and Guardiola will help to decide on his successor. We should have youth academies abroad."

Rosell: "This is the model we've started in 2003, so we'll keep the same model. Since Txiki has already said he won't stay, we will appoint somebody else. We will offer Guardiola a contract of 6 years, that will be renewable each year. We will close deals with foreign clubs."

Benedito: "We all share this model, but the model isn't linked with people."

Ferrer: "Txiki didn't say he will stop. I talked with him and I'm convinced he will want to continue."

Rosell: "If Txiki wants to continue, we'll talk with him and give him the chance to explain himself, we'll explain him our project and if Guardiola als wants it, he'll continue."

Ingla: "Sandro has a youth academy in Qatar and that could cause conflicts of interests."

Rosell: "It's just a solidary project. And I will sell my company."

Ingla: "We have been contacted by Rooney and two, three other players but we passed the information to Txiki."

Ferrer+Rosell+Benedito: "The people from the sports departmen should decide on the transfers, we can only put financial limits."

Economic area

Ingla: "We're far better than in 2003. Unicef is a good decision. Foster, We won't execute it."

Rosell: "We will reduce the expenses, so we can keep on growing."

Benedito: "We should make profit. We should not be forced to sell assets if we want to invest."

Ferrer: "The economic situation of the club is very good. In 2003, we lost money. Now we're making profits."

Rosell: "Unicef will continue, Foster won't be executed but we will profoundly remodel the stadium."

Benedito: "If we will be elected, we will stop the reclassification of the miniestadi site."

Ingla: "The times of the games can't be changed, the televisions won't accept it."

Ferrer: "It's populist Rosell wants to play at 5pm, the television rights will drop by 50%."

Social area

Rosell: "I've talked with a lot of members and want to give them again the feeling that they the owners of the club."

Benedito: "We want to make the members feel represented. Rosell is the reprensentative of the elite."

Ferrer: "we want to keep the people happy by winning, that's the first thing. We want the most Catalan and the most global Barça in history. The foundation should also continue with the international agreements."

Ingla: "We want to give more comfort to the members when coming to the stadium. We want to help the members who have financial problems. We don't want to exclude anyone."

Final statement

Benedito: "We'll the candidacy of the people. No one expected we would arrive here and we will fight until the end."

Ferrer: "The continuity of the best Barça in history is in play."

Ingla: "We shouldn't change the model of the club. Our candidacy has the most experience, we're the guarantee of this model."

Rosell: "We know what the member wants, everything what he wants is in our program. We won't fail."

Rosell company involved in Brazilian investigation

1. On 19 November 2008, the Brazilian national team plays a friendly game against Portugal to inaugurate the remodelled Walmir Campelo Bezerra stadium, usually known as Bezerrão, in the federal district of Brasília.

The match is organized by Ailanto, a Brazilian company of current Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell, that bought the rights for the friendly game from Catalan sports marketing company Bonus Sports Marketing (BSM), that is also owned by Rosell.

BSM had earlier bought the rights of the Brazilian team from International Sports Events (ISE), a company that is located on the Cayman Islands and that owns the rights of the friendly games of the Brazilian national team.

2. In March 2009, regional Brazilian radio station CBN Brasília reports that there's an investigation of the public prosecutor ongoing regarding the contract for the organization of the friendly between the governement of Brasilia and Ailanto.

The press reports say that the radio claims that Ailanto is an apparent ghost company that wouldn't even have an own phone and that Rosell, who is said to be linked with ISE, is an intimate friend of Ricardo Teixeira, the president of the Brazilian football federation who in the past has already been linked to similar irregularities.

As a consecuence of the media reports, Paulo Tadeu, a member of the regional parlement, asks for more information about the case which leads to a report by the Court of Audit. In July 2009, five public prosecutors issue a "public civil action of responsibility for an act of administrative misconduct" against governor José Roberto Arruda, secretary of sports Agnaldo Silva de Oliveira and Ailanto.

3. The public prosecutor basically points out that the correct procedures regarding the awarding and the executing of the contract - that was closed only one week before the game while the event couldn't be organized in such a short time according to the prosecutor - have not been followed. For example, several documents have not been presented in due time or were incomplete, and the governor personally gave the order for some payments.

Regarding the fee that was paid by the governement to Ailanto for the rights on the game and the organization, the public prosecutor says that the price of around 4,1 million euros is too high, using the word "absurd", that the fee is not properly explained and that the government also paid some costs that according to the contracts should have been paid by Ailanto.

The public prosecutor claims that Ailanto, that is described as a company ad hoc, "acted with a fraudulent intention and clearly in bad faith" and concludes by asking the judge for further investigations and to condemn all three parties involved.

As for Ailanto, the public prosecutor asks, among other things, to condemn the company to pay back the entire fee (together with the two others) and to exclude the company of doing business or getting any financial support from the government for the coming three years.

4. In September of last year, the lawyers of Ailanto put down their reply to the acusations of the public prosecutor. Ailanto basically claims that the public prosecutor made a mistake regarding the procedure that had to be followed for the awarding of the contract so that the accusation at that point is invalid.

Regarding the fee that was paid, Ailanto denies that it would be too high and explains how it has come to the final price. The secretary of sports also puts down his declaration while the governor was called up to testify at the end of March of this year.

Nevertheless, in November 2009, the local police launches the 'Box of Pandora' operation in Brasília, targetting a wide-spread network of government corruption, involving governor José Roberto Arruda, who is arrested and put in prison last February. In April, Arruda is released on bail. The now ex-governor still has to testify in the 'Brazil vs Portugal' case.

5. After some rumours about the case were spreading on the internet, former Barcelona press officer Jordi Badia starts a series on the matter on his blog on Friday 21 May. In several episodes, Badia explains the case in detail, adding links to press reports and official documents.

The news is picked up by the mainstream media on Tuesday 25 May after Rosell announces that he will file a lawsuit against Barcelona presidential candidate Marc Ingla, who had suggested in an interview that a company of Rosell had been "accused" in Brazil (read more here).

Rosell has been reluctant to talk about the matter and his candidacy did not put out any press release regarding the case. The defense of Rosell and people from his team is that Ailanto is not involved in any judicial case, that the public prosecutor is only investigating the corruption scandal linked to the governor and that his company in that regard has been asked to give information, like hundreds of other companies.

Last Friday, Ingla presented a note from a Brazilian law firm that says that Ailanto is being judicially investigated in a case of possible fraud.

Read more:
Rosell to file lawsuit against Ingla

disclaimer: none of what is written above is the personal opinion of the author. the post is based on public news reports and presumed official documents, whose authenticity hasn't been challenged by any of the parties involved. if there is any doubt about the terminology used in this post, the words should be interpreted in a non-legal way. if anyone feels not correctly treated by this post, he can asks for a rectification by sending this blog a mail to the address that can be found at the right and below.

Guixa will vote for Ferrer

Speaking at a press conference and further explaining his position in an open letter, former Barcelona presidential pre-candidate Jaume Guixà, who didn't pass the cut of the signatures, has said that he will vote on Sunday for presidential candidate Jaume Ferrer:

"Although I dislike the excesses of Laporta, I will vote for Jaume Ferrer. I will vote for him because I think he's a solid, serious, discreet and serene person who can deal with the pressure, because he believes in the youth academy and because I know the players and coaches respect him.

I will vote for Jaume Ferrer because he has been the most conciliatory candidate in the debates and because I like his latest proposal to include in the statutes of the club the incompatibility between being a director and having businesses in the world of sports."

Read more:
Guixa will make his vote public
The final number of signatures of support
Plaza will return blank ballot paper

Cartoon 44: A Camp Nou 2.0?

Fan A:
Soriano proposes to create a Camp Nou 2.0.

Which would mean that the fans could get all kind of information through their mobile phone.

Fan B:
I prefer a Camp Nou where we win all games with at least 2-0.

(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by kap

source:
el mundo deportivo

check more election cartoons here

Weekly Round-Up (26): Four days to the vote

Every week an overview of the posts from this blog, written by Xaviniesta, is published on Barcelona news site totalBarca.

The process of electing the next president of FC Barcelona has entered its final week with the four candidates – Jaume Ferrer, Sandro Rosell, Marc Ingla, and Agusti Benedito – expected to take part in a series of debates organised by the Catalan media.

The first presidential debate, which was covered live by the blog, took place on Tuesday, and will have its follow up event today, June 10, at 22:30, under the sponsorship of Catalan television channel 8tv.

The campaign period will wrap up on Saturday, June 11, followed by a day of reflection on June 12 during which no election related activities will be allowed, and will culminate in the holding of the final vote on Sunday, 13 June, at the Camp Nou grounds.

>>> read the complete weekly round-up here

Live Coverage: Third presidential debate

Barcelona presidential candidates Agustí Benedito, Jaume Ferrer, Marc Ingla and Sandro Rosell held the third presidential debate on Catalan television channel 8tv.

Contract renewal Xavi

Rosell: "It's a good thing if the technical staff has approved it. He will most probably become the player with the most games at the club.

Benedito: "I'm happy."

Ingla: "Good news. Xavi has the Barça DNA, he could become a coach at the club later.

Ferrer: "He deserves to finish his career at Barça."

Role of the president

Ingla: "The president shouldn't intervene. The president shouldn't get involved in the sports area. A president shouldn't propose players to the coach and put pressure on them."

Rosell: "Everyone has his task but the president has to mark the limits."

Ferrer: "It depends on the moment. If Guardiola asks for Chygrynskiy after winning the treble, it's difficult not to follow him. But the president shouldn't think he knows more than the coach. He should stay away from the technical decisions and not want to throw out for example Rijkaard after some games, or dismiss Tito Vilanova [goes for Rosell]."

Benedito: "The president should only put economic limits."

Ferrer: "In February 2005, Rosell wanted to throw out Rijkaard and replace him by Gratacós, and later Scolari."

Ingla: "I confirm this."

Rosell: "That's not tru, I said we should turn things around or else the league could slip away. And first we indeed thought about Gratacos, because we didn't have money for another coach."

Benedito: "I was at that time part of the sports commission, following the handball section. I didn't have power to decide. And Rosell was indeed interventionist. Ingla also, in the marketing department."

Ingla: "I remember perfectly that Rosell wanted to change the coach just before winning the first league. As far as the marketing department is concerned, we were working hard to change things but I always worked with the permission of the board."

Ferrer: "Rosell has businesses in the world of football and that makes him wanting to intervene."

Rosell: "I will sell my business if I'm elected and I never represented players, I'm mostly working for multinationals. The times are also different, now the model is clear."

Ferrer: "Rosell left in 2005, because he didn't like the model we were building. Like Ingla in 2008, who also wanted Mourinho."

Rosell: "I left because we weren't executing the election program."

Ingla: "In November, we already wanted Guardiola. In January, Mourinho offered himself, so we went to see him but upon return I told the president we couldn't sign him. I have witnesses of that meeting, like former director Murtra."

Ingla: "Rosell brought lists with his favourite players to the board, like Maniche, Costinha and others, and the sports director had to choose."

Rosell: "We should finish the youth centre."

Ferrer: "We will finish it this year."

Rosell: "We want another youth academy, also for the other sections."

Ferrer: "We already have that."

Benedito: "We need more youth academy and private jets."

Ferrer: "Benedito has never been in the board so he can't know all that. Most private jets are put at our disposal by the FIFA and others to go and get the prizes of the players."

Successor Guardiola? Do we want to keep the style?

Ingla: "We should keep the style we put in place in 2003. We should have a long-term view."

Ferrer: "We'll see what happens with Guardiola, we'll start with 2-3 more years and then we'll see if he wants to stay."

Rosell: "We will try to convince Guardiola to stay for the six years. We should keep the style."

Youth academy

Ingla and Ferrer: "We want a more global youth academy."

Rosell and Benedito: "We should only have the academy in Barcelona."

Youth stand

Rosell: "We want it because we want more animation in the stadium."

Ingla: "The Catalans are like this, over the last years the atmosphere has already gotten better. A united youth stands is a chance for the hooligans to get back in."

Benedito: "Rosell is playing with fire, although I agree we need more animation. But we should analyze the issue very carefully."

Ferrer: "At the game against Inter for example, we had the best animation in years."

Social project

Ingla: "The member will have the power to decide in several area, like for exmple the honorary members. We want to stay solidary with the world around, but also with the members, who we want to help in difficult moments. We want to be closer than ever to the member."

Rosell: "We want to change the hours of the games in 2012 and play in the afternoon, so the families and children can come to the stadoum."

Benedito: "The fact that we have members is something unique in the world and we should finally give him the power he should have."

Ferrer: "We have listened to the members and we will implement what they asked us. We should renew the stadium so it's more user-friendly. We should offer cheaper packages for away games. We wants to be more solidary than ever."

Benedito: "We want to ask the members the chance to vote on proposals, for example every two months."

Ingla: "Barcelona is a feeling, we want to give everyone the chance to become a member, although we don't want to promote it."

Rosell, Ferrer and Benedito: "We should regulate the entrance of new members."

Ten impertinent questions: Jaume Ferrer

Barcelona presidential candidate Jaume Ferrer gave an interview to Catalan sports paper Sport.


1. You are the figurehead of the Pujol i Ferrusola family?
I'm a personal friend of Josep for thirty years. There's nothing more to it.

2. Did you ask for the resignation of Laporta after the vote of no confidence?
No.

3. Laporta insulted you and threw a bottle at you when he find out you wanted to be a candidate?
We had a discussion during which the tone was raised a bit, like during other discussions we had.

4. The video campaign was a mistake?
It was made by some volunteers, the lyrics were the most important thing of it.

5. Have you been told that they overused photoshop in your campaign photo?
Many times.

6. Was it a mistake to use Laporta's phrase 'Que n'aprenguin' [They can learn from this]?
It's a nice phrase.

7. Does it hurt that they say you were the weakest in the debate on Catalunya Ràdio?
There is a poll that gives me 23% of the voting intentions.

8. Does it hurt that the financial problems of your company became public?
Weekly paper 'El Triangle' did that to damage my image and because they were ordered to.

9. Are you the puppet of Laporta?
Ignore those who say that. It's an electoral strategy.

10. Your phone has been tapped?
I am not aware of that.

Read more:
Ferrer: "Barça is a club that unites"
Rumours about pact Benedito-Ingla-Ferrer
Ferrer wants to personally head social area

interview: toni frieros

Plaza will return blank ballot paper

Asked by this blog who he will vote for in the elections for president of FC Barcelona on Sunday, former Barcelona presidential pre-candidate Alexis Plaza, who didn't pass the signatures' cut, has said he won't give his vote to any of the four candidates:

"As far as I see it: whoever wins, everything will stay the same. We were the only real alternative for what happened over the past eight years. I also don't consider it to be ethical to use my position to favour another candidate.

I will of course go to the Camp Nou on Sunday to vote, but I will return a blank ballot paper. Said that, I can assure that no matter who will be elected as president, he will have my support until the end."

Read more:
Plaza: "I hope to run again in 2022"
The final number of signatures of support
Plaza rejects offer to sell signatures

Rumours about pact Benedito-Ingla-Ferrer

Spanish news agency EFE claims, based upon sources from the candidacies involved, that Barcelona presidential candidates Agustí Benedito, Marc Ingla and Jaume Ferrer could make a pact ahead of the elections on Sunday.

Because none of the three candidates would according to the latest internal polls have a chance to defeat Sandro Rosell on Sunday, with the former sports vice-president getting around 40% of the voting intentions. The main problem would be the decision on who would lead the united candidacy.

Catalan radio station RAC1 reported that they asked the three candidacies about the rumours of a pact and that all denied. Speaking to Catalan radio station Catalunya Ràdio, Benedito repeated that he will not make a deal before the elections.

Read more:
Benedito wants sections to have own president
Ingla reveals his plan for Camp Nou 2.0
Ferrer: "Barça is a club that unites"

Cartoon 43: Laporta above election battle

Laporta:
I declare open the electoral campaign. May the best win. As the current president, I can't publicly support anyone.

(click the cartoon to enlarge)


by alex

source:
golsud

see more cartoons here

[picture] The second debate

The four presidential candidates held last night the second presidential candidates debate on Spanish television station TVE.

From left to right:
Sandro Rosell, Jaume Ferrer, Marc Ingla, Agustí Benedito

Ten impertinent questions: Agusti Benedito

Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito gave an interview to Catalan sports paper Sport.


1. Did you resign because Joan Laporta didn't appoint you as director?
No, that's something they said to divert attention. The reason is that he tried to do business on a personal level through a customer of the club.

2. How many times did he promise you to be a board member and how many did you ask him?
Never.

3. How did you collect the money for the campaign?
It was funded by all members of the candidacy. Some put in a little more and are going to the bank.

4. What about the rumors about your financial solvency?
If we are able to put down the bank guarantee? We'll fulfil the requirement.

5. What is your profession?
I am involved in some long-term projects. For example, trying to sell and transport water from some glaciers in Patagonia to the Middle East.

6. Do you really think that you can be president of Barça?
We have a chance. I won't say whether it's big or small.

7. How did you cope during those fourteen years behind the scenes when you prefer the spotlight?
Because that's not true, it's what I like less. He who wants to appear on television and in the newspapers wouldn't have waited so long.

8. If you do not win, will you accept an offer from the new board?
I don't think so, no. If we do not win and the circumstances are right, i might take part in the elections of 2016.

9. How many cars did you sell in your life?
More than 30,000.

10. What's that about wanting to be the president of Barça with a beard and no tie?
Beard, half of the candidates have a beard. And tie, I have not worn a tie in years so it's not something I'm now doing just for the campaign.

Read more:
Benedito wants sections to have own president
The first presidential debate
Benedito introduces "associate" and "barcelonista"

interview: juan manuel díaz

Ingla reveals his plan for Camp Nou 2.0

The candidacy of Barcelona presidential candidate Marc Ingla has yesterday presented at a press conference their "Camp Nou 2.0" project that includes the implementation of new technologies to make a visit to the stadium more user-friendly.

The candidacy wants to install a free wifi network at the Camp Nou and develop a mobile phone application that would, among other things, include a guide to your seat and to other facilities in the stadium, a chat application, line-ups, real-time statistics and action replays.

Read more:
Ingla: "I will be a very quiet president"
The first presidential debate
Ingla contradicts presumed season-ticket upgrade

[picture] Sandro Rosell at the market

Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell visited yesterday a market in Barcelona.