Soriano to announce candidacy next month

Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia claims that former Barcelona economic vice-president Ferran Soriano will soon officially announce at a press conference that he will be a candidate in the elections for president of FC Barcelona in June of this year (read more here).

Soriano would have started to inform the main shareholders of Spanish airline Spanair, of which he is the chairman, and several important people of the Catalan society and politics about his decision. The public announcement would be planned after the holy week, the week before Easter, that is celebrated on Sunday 4 April.

Former Barcelona marketing and sports vice-president Marc Ingla would become the right-hand man of Soriano, who is reportedly open for agreements with other candidates such as current Barcelona vice-president Alfons Godall and Jaume Ferrer under the condition that he will keep on leading the final candidacy.

Soriano would continue to count on Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola and Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain, although the latter would get another role at the club. Former Barcelona goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta could replace Begiristain as sports director (read more here).

Read more:
Soriano preparing candidacy
Begiristain proposes Zubizarreta as his successor
Soriano carrying out election poll

Weekly Round-Up (15): A Third Way

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


Former Barcelona sports vice-president and presidential candidate Sandro Rosell reportedly wants to continue collaboration with UNICEF, a charitable initiative started by the board of Joan Laporta that allows Barcelona players to sport the UNICEF logo on their shirts.

Rosell, who has not revealed any detail of his project but claims he will present it in May, has also reportedly closed a deal with Catalan tv host Andreu Buenafuente’s production outfit El Terrat to handle communications for his campaign.

>>> read the complete weekly round-up here

Director Colomer to be treasurer of Ferrer

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona director Josep Anton Colomer [picture, in the centre] will become the club's treasurer if Barcelona assets vice-president and presidential candidate Jaume Ferrer would be elected as the new Barcelona president in the elections on 13 June of this year.

Josep Anton Colomer is a Catalan businessman who spent most of his professional career at the Spanish banking group BBVA and who has been part of the Barcelona board of directors for less than two years.

In July 2008, after eight directors left the club as a consecuence of the vote of no confidence against Barcelona president Joan Laporta, Colomer was appointed as a member of the board (read more here). He is currently a director of the economic area and responsible for the futsal section.

Read more:
Ferrer has biggest media impact
The Board Movements (2003-2009)
Director Torrent will be right-hand man Ferrer

Rosell most popular candidate on Facebook

Three months before the elections for president of FC Barcelona, former Barcelona sports vice-president Sandro Rosell is the most popular presidential candidate on social networking site Facebook, both regarding his personal profile page, as regarding his support page.

Personal pages
Sandro Rosell: 5.001
Agustí Benedito: 3.551
Jaume Guixà: 2.632
Alfons Godall: 1.899
Jaume Ferrer: 1.132

Fan or group pages
Sandro Rosell: 6.981
Alfons Godall: 6.841
Agustí Benedito: 1.805
Jaume Guixà: 481
Jaume Ferrer: 301

Read more:
Rexach has Facebook support he asked for
Marketing expert: "It will be an Obama-type campaign"
Live Coverage: Twitter chat session Sandro Rosell

What is the role of a vice-president?

Article 30, paragraph 2 of the statutes of FC Barcelona says that the club should have between one and five vice-presidents: "The positions that make up the Board will be, at least and necessarily, those of [...] Vice president [...] and optionally, and by decision of the Board itself, up to four other Vice Presidents [...]."

Article 30.2 of the statute defines the functions of a Barcelona vice-president:

"a) To exercise, in representation of the President, that person's duties when delegated by the same.

b) To temporarily substitute the President in cases of absence, temporary incapacitation or suspension of his or her presidency.

c) To substitute the President when that person ceases to exercise that position during his or her presidency.

If there is more than one Vice president, the substitute will be the one of highest category, if they have been named in an order, or the longest-serving member if they are all of the same category, except for temporary substitutions as detailed in section b) owing to the absence or temporary incapacitation of the President, in which case the President will directly designate the Vice president that will substitute him or her.

d) All others that are stipulated by these Statutes."

The vice-president is not mentioned further in the statutes apart from the reference in article 34, paragraph 2, saying that at least one vice-president should take part in the meetings of the club's Delegate Commission (read more here).

Read more:
Which directors will stay on until June?
Godall and Ferrer no longer part of 'core board'
How much will the elections cost?

The Slogan: Sandro Rosell

"We're all Barça"


'Tots som Barça' would become the main campaign slogan that will be used by Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell ahead of the elections in June

read more election quotes here

The Quote: Jaume Ferrer

"At first, the president wanted Sala i Martín. Godall is the second option."


Jaume Ferrer,
Barcelona assets vice-president and presidential candidate

read more election quotes here

Benedito open to meet with regular fans

Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito, who will take part in the elections that will be held on 13 June, has announced in a press release that he would be glad to personally meet with Barcelona fans.

People who are interested in getting to know Benedito face-to-face can do that every day from Monday to Thursday at 7 pm at the campaign headquarters in the historic centre of Barcelona (read more here).

Read more:
Benedito: "The media already have their favourites"
Eighty percent of the voters still undecided
Benedito to open campaign headquarters

Poll Voting Intentions: Three Months Before

This is the final result of this blog's Who would you vote for in the elections for president of FC Barcelona poll?

Sandro Rosell 40%
Alfons Godall 22%
Jaume Ferrer 15%
Agusti Benedito 5%
Jaume Guixa 1%

Someone else 9%
Don't know 8%

compare with last monts' results here

check more voting intention poll results

The Catalan Cave: Joan Domenech (El Periodico)

in this section, we ask catalan and spanish sports journalists five questions about the elections for president of fc barcelona. today: joan domènech from catalan newspaper el periódico.


1. What is the biggest obstacle for a pact between Ferran Soriano and Alfons Godall?
I think there is none and if they don't reach an agreement, I would think it's a matter of strategy. It would be to the advantage of both. I think that Soriano wouldn't have a chance to win the elections on his own and if he teams up with Godall they would mutually reinforce each other.

2. Why is Sandro Rosell at this moment the big favourite?
Because ha has been able to prepare his candidacy for the last five years. Because he has known the club from within and because he has observed from outside what has been done well and what has been done badly. Because he has knowledge of the football industry, because he's a smart guy and, I suppose, has surrounded himself with smart people. And also because he can still count on the charisma and the prestige he gained when he was vice-president.

3. Jaume Ferrer is closer to Godall-Soriano or to Rosell?
He should be closer to Godall but some people from that candidacy alienate him. He wants to be the alternative to the two and he will distance himself from both.

4. Xavier Sala i Martín is an asset or a liability for Alfons Godall?
I am unaware about the image Sala i Martín in general has among the social mass of Barça. I do know the image he has in a more limited circle, which is that of the journalists, and that is not very good. I suppose he will be an asset for Godall because of his economic knowledge and because he could serve as "the bad guy" in the debates; he could be a liability if he puts too much emphasis on that bad guy image and overuses the haughty tone that he sometimes displays when he talks.

5. Is it possible that certain media or individual journalists will openly support a candidate?
Journalists may have their sympathies, but media will show a preference based on the sympathies their bosses have towards a candidate, not on that of the journalists on the field. Possibly some media will openly choose. It has happened before.

THE EXTRAS If you were a club member of Barça, who would you vote for or certainly not vote for?
With four months to go before the elections, I'm not choosing any of them. They all have something I like and something I don't like. If I would be a member, things would not be clear either. I would care a lot about maintaining the current sports model.

All your possessions are at stake. Give the top-3 of the elections on 13 June.
I would put a very small part on Rosell-Godall-Ferrer.

Thank you for this interview and your time. Good luck in covering the rest of the season and the elections.

read the previous episodes of this series:
francisco ávila (efe) - miquel pellicer (el mundo deportivo) - edu polo (ona fm) - abraham clotet (sport) - victor lozano (onda cero) - sergi de juan (el 9 esportiu) - cristian pulina (eurosport)

Rosell adding eco businessman to board team

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Catalan businessman Silvio Elías [picture] will be part of the board team of the candidacy of Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell ahead of the elections later this year.

If Rosell would be elected as president, Elías would become part of the sports area, that will most probably be led by former Barcelona director Josep Maria Bartomeu, who left the club together with Rosell in June 2005, as sports vice-president (read more here).

Silvio Elías, whose family sold their part in Catalan supermarket company Caprabo a few years ago, is currently the chief executive of Catalan ecological supermarket company Veritas. Elías is reportedly also linked with Duet Sports, a company that manages sports facilities.

Read more:
Former player Belletti gives support to Rosell
The three areas and vice-presidents of Rosell
Rosell signs well-known late night show host

The Quote: Joan Laporta

"I won't leave Barça without having presented Cesc."


Joan Laporta,
Barcelona president

read more election quotes here

Godall candidacy has positive polls

Asked about the polls indicating that Barcelona presidential candidate Sandro Rosell is currently the favourite ahead of the elections (check some poll results here), Barcelona treasurer Xavier Sala i Martín has said in an interview with Catalan radio station Catalunya Ràdio that the candidacy of Barcelona first vice-president Alfons Godall has other poll results:

"All there is now are estimations. The elections haven't yet been called, you don't know who the candidates will be. We'll see what happens when the elections will come closer. There are surveys that say that Sandro is in the lead. I have polls that say it's not like that, that there are others who are in the lead.

And there are indeed also polls that say that the people who want to continue with this project are in the lead and could win the elections. And the reason is simple: the people aren't stupid and in the end they see that things are going well and that this is not the time for changes and experiments. We will see what will happen."

Read more:
Soriano carrying out election poll
Poll Rosell confirms his big lead
Guixa carrying out own election poll

Most read of the week

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


1.
Benedito: "I feel heir to the 2003 project"

2.
Could Sala i Martin still be a candidate?

3.
Rosell wants to continue collaboration with Unicef

Director Torrent will be right-hand man Ferrer

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona director Jordi Torrent will be the right-hand man of Barcelona assets vice-president and presidential candidate Jaume Ferrer during the campaign ahead of the elections for president of FC Barcelona.

If Ferrer would be elected as the new Barcelona president in the elections on 13 June of this year, Torrent, who has been part of the Barcelona entourage for several decades, would become the club's first vice-president when the new board takes office.

Jordi Torrent is a Catalan businessman, currently acting as chief executive officer of the Spanish branch of Italian lighting company Disano, that has its headquartes in Roda de Barà, a city in the Catalan province of Tarragona, south of Barcelona.

In the 1978 elections, Torrent was already involved in the pre-candidacy of Josep Pla. In 1997, Torrent was part of the candidacy of Angel Fernández and was later that year one of the founding members of opposition group 'Elefant Blau' that organized a vote of no confidence against then Barcelona president Josep Lluís Núñez.

In July 2008, after eight directors left the club as a consecuence of the vote of no confidence against Barcelona president Joan Laporta, Torrent was appointed as a member of the Barcelona board (read more here). He is currently a director of the marketing and media area and responsible for the roller hockey section.

Read more:
Ferrer has biggest media impact
The Board Movements (2003-2009)
Former candidate Angel Fernandez will not run

Board of Benedito will have 15 directors

Asked about his board team for the upcoming elections, Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito has said in an interview with Catalan local television channel TV Sant Cugat that his board of directors will have fifteen members:

"The statutes say that there should be between fourteen and twenty-one directors. We will present a list of fifteen people. The names will come out as time goes by, following a calendar. We plan to present them one by one.

But I could say that the majority fits the profile of a businessman, medium enterprise, Catalan, possibly second or third generation, and people very involved in the society. I think that defines pretty well most of those who will surround me. I hope you can understand that I cannot give any concrete names, but that will happen soon."

Read more:
The three areas and vice-presidents of Rosell
Benedito putting emphasis on financial transparency
The five vice-presidents of Godall

The Pundit: Josep Maria Minguella on directors

« The current directors of Barca are first-class actors. Better than Nicholson or Newman. You see them in the president's box, greeting each other, hugging each other, they have dinner together and they seem like a unique group of friends. While, apparently, they are betraying each other, stabbing each other in the back, spying upon each other... Although, it has to be said, always for the good of the club and to "safeguard the neutrality of the institution". »

Josep Maria Minguella,
El Mundo Deportivo

check more pundit talk