Joan Laporta says 'the Club is in good health'

An ordinary meeting of the FC Barcelona Senate was held today, June 12. The Senate is a collegiate and honorary body of an advisory nature, made up of the thousand longest serving Club members. The event took place in the Auditori 1899 and was presided over by Joan Laporta. The president was joined by vice-presidents Rafael Yuste, Elena Fort and Antonio Escudero, Board of Directors members Josep Maria Albert, Xavier Barbany, Miguel Camps, Josep Ignasi Macià, Aureli Mas, Ángel Riudalbas, Joan Solé, Joan Soler, and the Board secretary, Josep Cubells, who led the proceedings. 105 senators were in attendance.

In his report, the president emphasised that "the Club is in good health" and in this sense, he announced that efforts are being made to end the ordinary financial year with positive results. “After many years, a critical situation has been turned around thanks to a lot of effort, bravery and audacity. We are starting to see green shoots. The Viability plan has been fulfilled in line with expectations since day one. We have increased income and reduced the sporting salary commitments by almost 200 million (Euro)”, he assured.

Laporta began his speech by thanking the senators and FC Barcelona fans in general for their support, stating “You were able to hold your nerve and we have felt your trust throughout. Setting off down a path such as this would not have been possible without that institutional stability”. According to the president, the Barça members don't agree with the disastrous diagnoses, which has meant being able to hold firm against attacks such as the so-called Caso Negreira. "A campaign to destabilise the Club has been discredited in the eyes of the law given the latest sentences".

Barça is and always will be owned by its members

Joan Laporta was again categorical when referring to the Club's ownership model before the Senate, stating “I will say it again before you, both fully convinced and from an institutional point of view, Barça is owned by its members and while I am president, this Board of Directors will always defend the associative ownership that makes us different”. The president doesn't consider there has been any improvisation in how he is managing Barça, rather professionalism and a capacity to resist. "Some external parties may want to lecture us, but few understand that saving the Club was really what recent years entailed", he declared.

For Joan Laporta, the new Spotify Camp Nou is "the collective dream for all FC Barcelona fans, the legacy we will leave to our children and grandchildren". The positive moment for the Barça brand and the emergence and establishment of the talented players from La Masia into the first team are reasons to be proud of for the president. He went on to thank Xavi Hernández for “his efforts, professionalism and love for FC Barcelona, for taking on the team in a very delicate moment, making it Liga champion and trusting in home-grown players”.

The president' speech was available for viewing on Barça One, the Club's new free content platform, and was followed by speeches by Vice-president for the Institutional Area Elena Fort, financial director Manel del Rio, and director of operations for Espai Barça Joan Sentelles. Del Río summarised the financial situation for the 2023/24 season, Fort informed the Senate about the plan to return to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys and to the Spotify Camp Nou, while Sentelles provided an update on the status of the Espai Barça works. The event ended with an open questions session.