Barça members respond to Laporta's plea

Barcelona"Dear member, I am pleased to inform you that you have been designated as a delegate of FC Barcelona." This is how the email that a few thousand members received at the beginning of July begins. A few weeks later, they received a physical card at their home mailbox that corroborated their status, with a mandate until 2028. This September 19th, many made their debut in a key assembly for the future of the club: the delegates endorsed an increase of 300 million in the Camp Nou remodeling project.

The assembly has been telematic, like all those that have been held since 2021. Only the board and the senators –the first 1,000 members– could follow it in person from the club's 1899 Auditorium. The rest, from home. It is more comfortable, but also lonelier. Without the canapés of the lunch break, the complicit comments with the person in the next seat, or the buzz when a hot topic on the agenda is touched upon. Everything is conditioned by the production images and practically zero ambient sound, except when one of the speakers had their microphone open.

It is a key assembly. Transcendent. But very placid. The additional debt, a result of the budget deviation of the Camp Nou, does not scare the delegates who seem little worried about the debt and more bothered about whether their season tickets will be raised. Before the formal meeting, Barça organizes a couple of informative sessions that serve to resolve doubts for the social mass but, above all, to test the atmosphere and get ahead of possible conflicts. For example, regarding the total cost that the stadium works will have, counting the loan money plus the interest, which forces the economic vice president, Ferran Olivé, to have a surgical discourse when giving explanations on the day of the voting. Furthermore, since some questions are sent beforehand through a form, the board can anticipate and prepare the answers.

There are 4,597 delegates in total, although fewer than a thousand are participating in the assembly. At noon, at the time of maximum influx, there are 956, and the figure is expected to decrease throughout the afternoon, especially after lunch. Where are the remaining 3,500? It is not as if Barça has spared any effort to ensure the maximum possible participation. In the email where they were notified of their status as delegates, they were also offered the possibility of resigning to give the option to another member. Over the last fifteen days, the club has sent numerous notifications to encourage them to participate, confirm attendance, or provide documentation to review the accounts that must be approved. Despite this, little more than 20% are present.

Laporta calls for "courage" and takes a jab at the aid received by Real Madrid

President Joan Laporta opens fire with an opening speech in which, besides praising Barça's economic and sporting recovery, he describes the expansion of the Espai Barça credit as an "exciting challenge" that will serve to "compete with public limited companies or state-owned clubs that have their land rezoned when they face difficulties." A direct reference to Real Madrid that encourages members whom he asks for "courage." Olivé takes up the baton by giving the economic explanations for both the closing of the 2025/26 season accounts and the 26/27 budgets, and Oriol Amat, as president of the blaugrana economic commission, issues his positive report on the accounts although he warns that the financial safety margin is "narrow."

The explanations sound convincing and the votes corroborate it. The process is agile and is recalled with an informative video before each scrutiny. The famous blue and red cards have already passed into history and even the senators who are in the Auditorium have a remote control. From home, once accredited for the virtual room, one can request a turn to ask questions, although few raise their hands. Finally, it is necessary to wait for the secretary to give the order to open the voting period. Afterwards, click on the voting room, where there are five minutes to choose the desired option. The count, of course, is practically immediate.

The closing of accounts, with more than 1,000 million euros in revenue but a net negative result (-18), is approved with 609 favorable votes and 32 against; while the budget, which foresees a new record of revenue, obtains 583 supports and 43 negative votes.

Three hours after starting, the key point arrives, that of financing. It is 300 million to finish the works and 210 in bond issuance to face the interest while the stadium is not yet at its maximum capacity, in a journey through the desert that will last at least until January 2028. Here there are some complaints about the cost overrun of the work, the percentage of interest or the doubt of whether more expansions will be needed. Olivé, who was already expecting them, justified the cost overrun with external factors, argued the interest with the increase in the price of money and guaranteed that no more financing would be needed. With 562 votes in favor and only 45 against, the assembly –which at this point needed a reinforced majority of 2/3– authorized the expansion of the financing, and with 486 supports and 55 against, it also validated the issuance of bonds. Laporta and his team breathe easier.