2023-08-27 07:45:42
BarcelonaIndignation. This is what has generated, in a large part of the social mass of Barça, the official statement that the club published on Friday at 3.16 pm after the startling speech of Luis Rubiales. The majority of Blaugrana members and fans were not convinced by the organization’s reaction to the RFEF president’s refusal to resign over the non-consensual kiss on Jennifer Hermoso (the club’s all-time leading goalscorer) and the cluster of sexist attitudes from the final of the Women’s World Cup. Even the president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Pere Aragonès, expected more than one letter in which Barça did not demand the resignation of Rubiales and, moreover, considered that the still president of the RFEF had already “asked apologies” for the facts.
In fact, beyond the institutional vice-president Maria Elena Fort, who showed her different position from the club in a Twitter thread “in a personal capacity”, the ARA has been able to confirm that other directors of Joan Laporta’s board did not agree with the statement. Among them, Josep Ignasi Macià, attached to the social area. The text is a far cry from the club’s statutes. On October 23, 2021, precisely the leadership of Laporta added a section in article 4T in which it is ensured that Barça “will ensure equal rights and the dignity of people”, “promote the values democratic principles of equality and non-discrimination” and “will fight for the eradication of all sexist, homophobic and racist attitudes in the social and sporting spheres”. Some principles that do not agree with the lukewarm official statement to condemn Rubiales’ attitude towards women in general and a former Blaugrana footballer in particular.
The letter, defined as a “joint work” by Barça’s communication department, led by journalist Àlex Santos, was approved for publication in the last instance by the entity’s presidential cabinet, headed by Manana Giorgadze . “It was done with the utmost professionalism, information and with the best for the club in mind,” argue official sources from Camp Nou. Days ago, Barça had stated that it would not make any statement until Rubiales appeared during an assembly to which Laporta did not go because he was signing the extension and deferral of Marc-André ter Stegen’s contract until 2028. In this conservative line , the club vetoed TV3 questions on the subject in the Gamper’s post-game against Juventus last Thursday.
Strong calls for the resignation of Rubiales
A little over an hour after Barça had released the official statement, the institutional vice-president, Maria Elena Fort, expressed her “total rejection of the actions of all those members of the official and unofficial bodies who allow and protect actions reprehensible and everything that happened this morning”. In addition, he considered “necessary his immediate resignation”. Fort admitted that, personally, they were having “some difficult times and days”.
Besides Fort, the coach of the women’s Barça, Jonatan Giráldez; the team’s general manager, Markel Zubizarreta; and the players unanimously also went far beyond the official speech of the Blaugrana club. Giráldez said that “these are gray days for Spanish women’s football” and that these are “acts and behaviors far removed from the society we want to become”. For this reason, he asked for “structural changes and urgent measures”, in line with the claims of the dozens of Spanish footballers who communicated that they will not return to the Spanish national team until the current leaders leave, including 14 players of the current Barça. In addition, Giráldez recalled that, in a matter like this, “he who does not take a position is taking a position”.
For his part, Zubizarreta resigned as a member of the national women’s football committee of the RFEF. “Today is a day when you cannot look away. There are certain attitudes that do not make any sense in football and in society in general. Changes necessary on a structural scale for them, for everyone and for to football!” he tweeted enclosing his resignation from the position.
The Barça dressing room, more united than ever
The uncertainty of how winning the World Cup can impact the Barça dressing room has evaporated. At least, temporarily. The nine Blaugrana players who have won it (three of them, belonging to the fifteen who had resigned from the national team just under a year ago and who returned to play in the World Cup: Aitana, Mariona and Ona Batlle); the three who put forward their values in the contest of the tournament (Mapi León, Patri Guijarro and Clàudia Pina); and the two who were not invited to the World Cup despite being available (Sandra Paños and Jana Fernández) are now going to one.
The unanimity that originated yesterday on the part of Spanish football players through a WhatsApp group after Rubiales’ astonishing speech at the RFEF assembly has radically changed the situation and all the players of the first team of Barça with chances of being selected by Spain signed the statement that announced that dozens of footballers will not return to the national team, still led by Jorge Vilda, until the leaders change.
In any case, the three Blaugrana players who gave up playing in the World Cup – Mapi León, Patri Guijarro and Clàudia Pina – did not regret their decision during the tournament despite the fact that Spain was progressing through the rounds. Before the final, according to ARA, one of them expressed: “I already knew that this could happen. I am very calm. I could not live calmly with myself if I had gone to the World Cup.” .
Xavier Puig breaks the silence at the ARA
In contrast to the clamor ignited by the players and the two most relevant executive figures of the women’s Barça, the silence on the part of Xavier Puig, manager responsible for the team, stands out. So active on social networks to spread his vicissitudes on the pre-season tour of the first men’s team, as well as to boast of his presence in the historic final of the Spanish national team in Sydney, Puig has not yet made any comments on the networks , where he has uploaded a temporary photo of his trip to Mexico to accompany Giráldez’s squad on the pre-season tour that will take place in the coming days.
Consulted by the ARA, the manager has agreed to express his point of view: “The club has already issued its position, as have our coaches. I reiterate my condemnation of any sexist action in sport and that inappropriate actions like those of Rubiales are not accepted in sport and in society. Of course, all my support to all our players, whether they have won the World Cup or not.”
Another Xavi, in this case Hernández, did assess the sequence of events in front of the cameras. L’Egarenc has not explicitly asked for the resignation of Rubiales, but he has raised the tone in relation to the club’s official statement: “First of all, I want to show my unconditional support to Jenni Hermoso and all the players of the women’s team of football. Secondly, I want to condemn the attitude of the president of the Federation for his unacceptable behavior. And, thirdly, I want to express my sorrow for the fact that this intolerable behavior is being talked about and not about a World Cup that ‘just won’. For a few weeks, Xavi, who was criticized for his tepid stance towards the Dani Alves rape case, has been advised on communication issues by journalist Edu Polo, who has joined Barça’s payroll.
On the other hand, among the non-sporting workers of Barça, who are almost 500, there are cases of “indignation and disgust” with the official position communicated by the club.
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