The living work of Camp Nou

FC Barcelona's new communications director, Gabriel Martínez, has his work cut out for him. He wasn't even in the role 24 days ago when the club aired a commercial in which Joan Laporta, surrounded by giant speakers, solemnly announced the return to Spotify's Camp Nou for the Gamper Stadium on August 10. This Friday, the vice president of institutional affairs, Elena Fort, was the one who came forward to confirm what was already suspected: no. "It's a living project," she blurted out. The less important question in this matter is what the hell that means—sorry, I have another one: Are there dead projects?—because the relevant one is how it's possible that not even a month has passed since the big-budget announcement and they're already considering even starting the season at Montjuïc, with all that entails.

The strategy of suggesting that the City Council has been too strict "with the literal application of municipal ordinances and regulations when obtaining first occupancy licenses" doesn't work no matter how hard they try, and Joan Laporta's image and credibility have been seriously damaged. I suspect very few Barça fans were worried about whether or not to return to the Camp Nou at the Gamper Stadium: it was the club that shot itself in the foot for literally inexplicable reasons, because neither the official statement nor Elena Fort's statements about live works and literal applications of ordinances help to understand what the hell happened. Using elementary logic, either they were trying to deceive the members or they are inept. There is no third way.

Now there's the mess of how they'll resolve starting at the Olympic Stadium in September - if the Spotify Camp Nou, as it seems, won't be ready - two days after the scheduled Post Malone concert because the grass doesn't turn itself up, deciding whether to continue until February at the mountain because UEFA doesn't allow stadium changes in the Champions League qualifying rounds and, above all, whether the setback will have any impact on the audit that Crowe must present right now and which includes the exploitation of VIP seats at the Camp Nou for a value of one hundred million euros, which are crucial to achieving the 1:1 rule. The Gamper thing, well, is the least of it and although Laporta's announcement and the giant speakers were really cool, the ridiculousness is just as enormous.