2023-06-22 13:51:24
BarcelonaVíctor Font was the second most voted candidate in the last Barça elections. 16,679 members trusted him. Without confirming whether he will appear in the next elections, he broke his silence last Thursday in an event with the press. “We represent a third of the social mass of the club”, defended the businessman from Granoller before attending the ARA.
“The legacy that Laporta would leave now would be worse than that of Bartomeu.” How does this headline explain?
— I am referring to the economic and management inheritance. In that sense, it is not an opinion. It is the numbers that indicate it. When you have 250 million in operating losses like there will be this year, with more than 900 in expenses and 700 and little in income, it is clear that you are not doing well. Now we have more losses in ordinary business, more debt, excluding Espai Barça, and less assets than two and a half years ago.
What is more worrying, lack of income or excess spending?
— The lack of control of spending. It was the easiest to control right off the bat. The viability plan to control spending was essential during the first 100 days of the mandate. Not two and a half years later. But then the income suffers due to decisions such as not guaranteeing the continuity of Messi, having to go to Montjuïc, selling 25% of the television income and not having an executive team with enough experience in the sector. All this has an impact on income.
However, spending has been cut. Redundancies at the club, closure of Barça TV, termination of Mirotic…
— We are talking about actions that are being taken now, two and a half years after the new government took office. It was time to cut spending according to a well-designed plan and without improvisation two and a half years ago. It seems that we are now cutting back because they are demanding it from the outside when it was vital to do it proactively to make the club sustainable.
Are you still defending the deal with CVC?
— I have never defended him. When it is announced in early August 2021, I asked myself a number of questions. It could be a good move by Javier Tebas to facilitate the renewal of Messi, as we had not done our homework, but it also questioned the price of a possible blackmail and the consideration that could be asked to sign. Because selling an asset like television rights to advance cash is a financial operation. It adds no value. Selling percentages of club business to strategic partners to grow them is fine, but getting rid of 25% of TV revenue doesn’t get you anything. With CVC we were told that it mortgaged the club, and a year later we conceptually did the same with Sixth Street.
Do you miss the figure of Ferran Reverter?
— Barça needs a strong figure in the sporting field, someone with a lot of knowledge to lead the business project and then a president to command the institutional part and coordinate everything. We need a profile like that of Ferran Soriano at Manchester City.
What is the thing that annoys you most about the process of remodeling the Camp Nou and the exile in Montjuïc?
— The combination of everything. We keep adding elements to the perfect storm. Nobody forces us to go to Montjuïc. The Camp Nou had to be remodeled without leaving it. The only explanation there is urgency, which only makes sense if all the revenue you generate from the new stadium benefits you in the short term, which will not happen according to the funding that has been signed, which makes you may not see a euro of income for the next 25 or 30 years. Everything we will generate above what the old Camp Nou generated will be to repay the loans.
Since he says so, what do you think of this funding?
— Before signing this, it was necessary to have more patrimonial solidity, a stronger balance sheet… It was not wise to sign this agreement because we have established financial obligations that we will not be able to fulfill in the short and medium term. In addition, we have come to know the detailed conditions thanks to the press and have discovered that we have been deceived. The new Palau is not included in the plan even though it was approved by the members in the 2021 Assembly.
We won’t see a euro from what the new Camp Nou generates for another 25 or 30 years.”
Víctor Font Former candidate for the presidency of Barça
Is it reason enough to mobilize the social mass?
— We must make a common front and join efforts to grow as an institution. The censure motion should be the last resort and I hope we don’t get to that point, but there is a growing threat of being an SA and the ownership model we won’t play around with.
Will he run for the next election?
– I do not know. But I maintain the illusion of trying to help in any way I can to transform the club.
Do you think the Barça ownership model is under threat?
— It is in danger because we are demonstrating that we are not able to generate resources to meet our obligations. The will of President Laporta is sure that all this does not happen, but wills in life are not enough. We need a plan and manage Barça well if we want to avoid this risk, which is growing every day.
What do you think he did wrong in the 2021 campaign?
– Lots of things. But beyond the multiple mistakes made, the context turned completely against. The messages “we will do it again” and “I have the experience and the determination” were difficult to defeat for a project like the one I was leading, too rational and unknown to the social mass.
And has he spoken face to face with Laporta in the last two years and is it appropriate?
— We only greeted each other at some event. The last time I tried to talk to him was to present him with a proposal to reform the bylaws. It wasn’t possible. But we keep our hand extended and willing to help whenever possible.
How would he have done it to sign Messi this summer?
— Doing the homework and, both now and two years ago, exploring creative avenues, reproducing the Jordan case… Bringing Messi back just by calling his name in the stadium was impossible. The fact that he left for Miami shows that the deal could be worked out with time and that it was creative, with strategic business partners. An agreement, by the way, thought up by a former Barça employee [Xavier Asensi]. Now the frustration is of many people. Among them, Xavi. Inter Miami has now shown us how we should have renewed Messi two years ago.
Do Messi and Xavi have reasons to feel cheated? They wanted to meet again and made them believe it was possible.
– I do not know. But understand the rule of fair play financial and working in advance to fulfill it is not the responsibility of either of them, but of others.
How do you rate Xavi’s first full season on the bench?
— Positive I had no doubt that Xavi was the one who had to lead the sports project even though there were many people who told us that he was not ready. Rebuilding a team from almost scratch was very difficult. Titles have been won and there have been matches that have excited us. Now it needs time and trust from everyone to consolidate everything.
Did Jordi Cruyff’s departure surprise you?
— I understand that he wants to continue working in other places. The reasons escape me. I asked them, but they didn’t tell me.
The networks have fallen into some trouble because he proposed to pay to sign Eric Garcia.
— It wasn’t a signing of Víctor Font… At that time, the coach at the time claimed him [Koeman] and that of the future [Xavi]. Eric hasn’t established himself as expected, but he’s a very young guy. You have to be patient with those in the house.
Do you think there is inaction in the social mass?
— People only move when the team is on the rocks or an economic slump becomes very evident.
Has the club moved away from the member?
– Yes. And I think it is the responsibility of whoever governs. And it’s not a new topic. As always, whoever governs does so behind the partner’s back. We count for nothing. Telematic assemblies are set up during working hours, things are not explained, it is said that everything is going well and acts of faith are requested. If we had a transparent and participatory model, there would be many more members involved in the social life of the club.
However, it is clear that Laporta has a lot of support. Why do you think it is?
— Because he is charismatic, he was the president of the best Barça in history, he has communication skills and he has been unfairly made to suffer with the action of responsibility that Rosell put on him. Barcelona fans have a bit of a feeling that they are in debt to him. It is a cocktail of these factors and also the result of the polarization we have with everything. Laporta now embodies the good side. But it should not be a matter of sides, but of seeing the best way to manage the club in 2023. In a much more professionalized football world than in 2003.
He said that the conditions must be put in place for Guardiola to return to Barça. Will there be a competition to see who hugs Pep the hardest?
— I don’t think it’s about competing to hug anyone. Let alone Pep, who is one of Barça’s main assets and does not belong to anyone. It is about articulating a club project that is not personalistic and where the cultural talent feels asked to take part. The Barça of the future must pass yes or no to leave behind the trenches that the 2003 regime has reinforced and form a common front that allows the best to lead the sporting, economic and institutional areas.
In the networks it is often read that you are the heir of the bartorosellisme…
— Those who say that don’t know me well. I was the only one with aspirations to rule the club who actively supported the no-confidence motion against Bartomeu, which was complicated in the middle of the pandemic. And I also remember that I was the main victim of Bartogate.
Does it benefit Barça in terms of having 20% of the shares of the newspaper ARA?
– No. And not in the Sports section either. Because there are those who think that I dictate what you write. Half a year before the elections, I asked the president and largest shareholder of the ARA to leave the shareholding, but we still haven’t been able to execute it. But since then I stopped participating in the editorial board and stayed much more apart from the project.
I don’t know if he knows that within Barça there are those who define ARA as “Víctor Font’s newspaper”…
— Well, it’s not true at all. But I understand that it is part of a story to feed, unfortunately, the trenches that one day I would like to be able to overcome together to make a common front when the adversaries attack us.
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