Opposition groups call for Joan Laporta and Barcelona board to step down immediately | OneFootball

Barcelona president Joan Laporta and his board of directors have on Sunday been urged to step down from their respective roles with immediate effect.

This comes as a direct consequence of the ongoing player registration case at the club.

As much has of course dominated the headlines across all of Spanish football this week, as Barcelona continue to come up short in efforts to register summer signings Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor for the remainder of the campaign.

The final straw for opposition groups whose patience with Joan Laporta had long been wearing thin, an official message was in turn sent the way of the Blaugrana’s president on Sunday.

The message in question, drawn up by ‘groups, platforms and associations linked to Barcelona’, and cited by Mundo Deportivo, can be read in full below::

“The Groups, Platforms and Associations undersigned would like to express first of all that we would not like to have to sign and publish any new Communiqué. We have already had to issue several in recent years, and it has been the lack of reaction from the current Board of Directors and the failure to take the measures that we have often demanded (inaction that has ended up leading to the point where we are today at this moment), which motivates us to react one more blow. We would like the Club to operate in a planned and efficient way, that the management was excellent, that we were leaders in many positive initiatives, that we anticipated the future, because, then, the groups undersigned would live another type of Barcelonaism. But denying reality, thinking that things can change spontaneously, is not part of a mature associative conduct, and if we let go socially, we will end up losing what we want.

We will not go into detail about the chaotic situation we have experienced in recent weeks, which is well known to everyone. Some of the undersigned groups already made reference to it in the statement we issued on September 9. In recent weeks, however, the list of grievances has grown significantly with the addition of such relevant facts as the failure to follow the auditor’s criteria in the approval of the 2023/24 accounts to avoid recognising ordinary losses, the recognition of a commission that is difficult to understand for a mediation in the renewal of the contract signed with Nike , the attempt to sign a player for the basketball section of dubious honour using regrettable practices and the permanent uncertainty of the new Palau, the negligence in the registrations of the players Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor waiting until the last moment when the Club has had 4 months to do so, also ceding some rights for 20 years to companies from countries with which the Board promised it would never do business, ultimately losing income for future years, or the unwillingness to dialogue with the Grada d’Animació to resolve a conflict that harms us all, to cite some of the cases.

In addition to the flagrant electoral breaches, the cases of negligence, as proven, are multiplying and the social crisis is quite evident, with which we believe that, today and now, it does not contribute anything to expose again in public what we all know perfectly well. We only want to point out that, living on the edge constantly, makes and causes that one day the coin does not fall on the side you want, causing irreparable material, economic and social damage and a point, surely, of no return. In any case, the image and reputation of the Club, unfortunately, has been seriously damaged for some time now.

We appeal to the Barcelona spirit of the current members of the Board of Directors. We appeal to the spirit of the slogan they used to win the last elections “ Estimem al Barça ”. If this expression was/is real and goes beyond words, they will understand and assume that they have to step aside, and therefore:

1. They must resign to make way for a new stage with new ways of doing things and managing and with people who have the initial energies so necessary to give life and vigor to an entity in need of change and professional management. We therefore ask them, first of all, to resign immediately.

2. Even if they do not want to resign because they consider that the partners must be heard, they can still submit to a binding vote of confidence, with statutory mechanisms to articulate it, as some of the undersigned Groups proposed 4 months ago.

3. Thirdly, the lack of reaction to our previous public proposals/requests means that we cannot rule out a final scenario, which is the activation of a  Vote of No Confidence , the only tool available to members, an option that involves a significant effort and wear and tear on the part of both its promoters and the Club itself. That is why we ask you to prioritise your appreciation of Barça above any other consideration.

Now is the time to show true Barcelonaism.

Visit Barça and Visit Catalunya

Barcelona, ​​January 5, 2025”

Conor Laird – GSFN