There is no club more supervised by its own directors and members than FC Barcelona since the elections held by universal suffrage in 1978 — before the delegates voted — and won by Josep Lluís Núñez.
Núñez was subjected to a vote of no confidence by Joan Laporta in 1998. Laporta also had to face a vote of confidence in 2008 after an initiative favored by Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu. Both accompanied Laporta in the winning candidacy of 2003 and resigned in 2005. One of the reasons for their departure was that Laporta, when she was elected, did not raise the rugs from the management of Joan Gaspart, forced to leave office in 2003. Bartomeu , protagonist of Barçagate, whose instruction has been extended until July, also left the presidency in 2021 when the partners requested an hour to vote on his continuity in a process mediated by the Generalitat. And Rosell undertook a liability action against Laporta to resign in 2014 when the signing of Neymar became a matter of State after a complaint from partner Jordi Cases.
Although sometimes they have ended up exceeding the social control of the club itself, a circumstance that has favored leaks, the different mandates have been very different and it is therefore surprising that the investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office implicates the different presidents Gaspart-Laporta-Rosell-Bartomeu until José María Enríquez Negreira ceased to be vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees in the 2017-2018 season. None of the leaders broke the chain nor have they jointly given explanations, but reproaches have been exchanged while waiting for the external investigation commissioned by Laporta to end.
The Barça link with Negreira from 2001 to 2018 has been reinforced with the appearance of the figure of Josep Contreras, a former Barcelona manager and former vice president of the Catalan Federation, who disappeared last Christmas. Contreras was always related to Barcelona, whether directly on the boards of Núñez, Gaspart and Bartomeu or as a member of the social or sports commission, a faithful follower of the Barça team and especially active in grassroots football and in the Barça subsidiary . Contreras used to be in the Miniestadi and in the Camp Nou box, not even as a federation representative (2011-2014) representing the Catalan president Andreu Subies.
Contreras and Subies were arrested and released in 2018 for the irregular awarding of works that were part of the investigation of the so-called Operation Soule that affected the then president of the Spanish Federation Ángel Maria Villar (1998-2017). Barcelona decidedly bet on Villar from the times of Gaspart to those of Laporta. The former Barça president became federation vice president and the current Barcelona president also opted for Villar in the 2004 elections against the candidacy of Gerardo González.
Alfons Godall, Barça’s vice president with Laporta, argued in 2012 the reasons for Laporta’s support for Villar in an interview with Antena 3: “We have to stand by the entities in which power is exercised and not turn our backs on them. I remember that in his day Laporta was very clear. Which president does Florentino support? Gerardo Gonzalez. So Barça should support Villar and have a good relationship with the federation, where the referee committees, the competition and the Football League are cooked. I think that laporta cultivated a lot, and very thoroughly, the good relations with these institutions and that helped us. He had a decisive performance in Villar’s term. It was intended to change the committee. He was very clear. Not being well with the federation harms us at a sporting level ”, concluded Godall.
Also Mateo Alemany, Barcelona’s current football director, later tried to oppose the presidency of the Spanish federation against Villar after rejecting an offer to join Florentino Pérez’s Madrid. Villar was dismissed in 2017, the new president is Luis Rubiales and Alemany has joined Barcelona. The Barça club chaired by Laporta, which needs to capitalize after Bartomeu’s ruinous stage, has decided to make a common front with Florentino’s Real Madrid. Both lawyers are determined by the Super League project and fight against the Professional League chaired by Javier Tebas.
Power relations have changed since the time when Núñez broke in with the intention of asserting Barça’s interests in the federation. Gaspart, now without charges or power, defends Barça’s innocence, Bartomeu is involved in Barçagate and Rosell announced that he would not finally stand in the Barcelona municipal elections. The Negreira case escaped the control of the directors to the astonishment of the Barça partners.
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