When Martí became president on July 16, 1952, he inherited a triumphant club and his challenge was to keep the momentum flowing.
In the only season that Enric Martí was in command at Futbol Club Barcelona, the team won the League, Cup and the Copa Eva Duarte, but that positive dynamic was broken by the controversy of the ‘Di Stefano case’, which led him to resign from the position.
Barça, who had already made an advance to River Plate, the club that owned the legal rights to the Argentinian star, saw how Real Madrid came to an agreement with Millonarios Bogotá, where Di Stéfano was playing after having left Argentina. Although Barça were considered to be within their legal rights and the Argentinian had already arrived at Fútbol Club Barcelona, the Spanish Federation, under pressure from state organisations and Real Madrid, made an absurd decision: the Argentinian star would play for Real Madrid in the 1953-54 and 1955-56 seasons, and for Barça in 1954-55 and 1956-57. Initially, Enric Martí Carreto signed the agreement, but was so widely criticised for doing so that he was forced to announce his resignation on September 22, 1953.
A few weeks later, on 23 October, the FC Barcelona Management Committee decided to withdraw its claim to the player and Real Madrid signed Di Stéfano on a permanent basis.
