Barça: an example for the world and an undeniable victory

BarcelonaIn a world where most major football clubs belong to magnates or petro-estates, Barcelona fans can be proud of having a club where the members still have the final say on who should lead it. Sunday's election process has been an example for the world, allowing for a comparison of management models and culminating in an undeniable victory for Joan Laporta over Víctor Font. The members voted for continuity, not change, and placed their trust in the president they believe will lead Barça to the highest levels of excellence as a club, both in terms of management and on the pitch. The members clearly understood that Laporta has laid the groundwork over the years to bring this objective closer than ever. The new Camp Nou fills Barcelona fans with pride and is envisioned as a source of income that will allow the club to maintain its independence. The commitment to La Masia, which has allowed the emergence of geniuses like Lamine Yamal, and the hiring of Hansi Flick mean that today Barça is, for many, the club that plays the most attractive football in the world, following in the footsteps of Guardiola's and Cruyff's Barça. The Champions League no longer seems like an unattainable dream, eleven years after their last triumph.

Furthermore, it should be emphasized that Joan Laporta has other virtues that explain his success among Barça fans, especially his ability to transmit passion and pride for the club and, at the same time, to navigate skillfully through the world of offices and private meetings where the fate of modern football is decided. Laporta is often an excessive and contradictory leader, but one in whom the members see themselves reflected because they know he will go to the very end to defend the club's interests. Ultimately, Barcelona fans believe they have found in Laporta a leader capable of challenging Florentino Pérez and contesting Real Madrid's European hegemony.

Now, the 70% of votes obtained by Laporta and his board of directors signify, in addition to an enormous amount of trust, a great responsibility. The new board will have to find a way to financially stabilize the club and build a legendary team around Yamal. Although, as a democratic institution, Barça must continue to generate debate, Laporta currently enjoys overwhelming support that he will now have to manage.

In this sense, the members' mandate is clear: the club must maintain its essence and be a symbol of Catalan identity and democratic values, rising above the current hyper-capitalism. In a world with clubs that have little history and a lot of marketing, Barça must continue to be more than just a club; it must be a formidable mechanism that combines international projection and internal cohesion, a mirror that goes beyond football and gives added and irreplaceable value to a membership card that is passed down from generation to generation with pride for the history behind it and all that it represents.