Josep Maria Bartomeu gets to know Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during Boston visit

FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has paid a visit to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he has learned about its work in association with Barça Innovation Hub, and also spoke to two of the world’s leading media outlets, ESPN and the Associated Press news agency to talk about matters related to the club.

Bartomeu has been in the United States to give a lecture at Harvard University on Barça’s social commitments as part of the sessions on ‘Participation, Inclusion and Social Responsibility in Global Sports’.

The MIT is another of the most prestigious and innovative academic institutions on the planet. Bartomeu was shown around the campus by its Senior Director Global Initiatives, Marcos Muñoz. 

He was joined by Javier Sobrino, FC Barcelona’s Director of Strategic Planning and Innovation in exploring the sports analysis research program being run in association between the Barça Innovation Hub and a group from the MIT Sports Lab, and which uses different data analysis techniques to study the attacking methods of different clubs in the Spanish Liga. 

He also enjoyed a work dinner with Israel Ruíz, the executive vice-president and treasurer of MIT, to discuss other ways in which the two institutions might be able to work together for mutual benefit. 

And he had a meeting with Christina Chase, from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Anette Hosoi, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and associate dean of engineering at the MIT.

While in town, Bartomeu was interviewed by ESPN and Associated Press about institutional and sporting issues related to the club, including the Espai Barça, the Barça Innovation Hub, the departure of Andrés Iniesta and the Barça Academies, and especially the one in New York.

The FCB president also spoke about the importance of La Masia and the details of the forthcoming summer tour of the US.

After playing three games on the East Coast last year, Barça will be traveling further west when they return in 2018. They play Tottenham Hotspur (Los Angeles, July 28), AS Roma (Dallas, July 31) and AC Milan (Bay Area, August 4) in the International Champions Cup. But it will also be a chance for the club to strengthen its presence in one of its most important strategic markets.