Key election at Barcelona

It’s been an awful week at FC Barcelona. The Catalan football club’s offices were raided by police. Its senior staff and ex-president were arrested. And it was ordered to pay back millions in euros after Europe’s highest court judged it had received illegal state aid.

Barcelona’s 140,000 members vote on its next president on Sunday. It is a three-way race between former club president Joan Laporta, technology investor Victor Font and lawyer Antoni Freixa.  Laporta appears to be out in front, any previous errors forgiven.

Their in-tray includes: recovering lost revenues due to the pandemic; rebuilding a stagnating team; and convincing Lionel Messi, Barcelona’s greatest ever player, to stay at the club. to stay at the club. Then there’s the urgent matter of tackling the growing €1.1bn debt pile, the majority of which is considered short term with repayment due this year. 

Some of the borrowing relates to a €1bn redevelopment of its Camp Nou stadium, which could pay for itself with the increase of future ticketing revenues. 

But other liabilities include money due to its own players for deferred wages in the pandemic and cash owed to rival clubs from past transfers. It is still paying off the £142m fee owed to Liverpool related to the acquisition of midfielder Philippe Coutinho two years ago — a player who then proved to be a flop.

Laporta reckons once fans return to its stadiums, Barcelona should mount a fast recovery. He plans to refinance its debt and raise cash on the bond markets. 

Font insists the club cannot keep on borrowing, with further loans set to be on unfavourable terms in future. “We are dealing with Wall Street,” he told the Financial Times Scoreboard. “They are not going to be kind and nice.” 

The Pink 'Un reckons that Barcelona’s problems stem from football’s short-term thinking — spending big to achieve immediate results on the pitch. The next president’s financial moves over the longer run will determine if Barcelona retains its place as one of football's pre-eminent institutions. 

It is also, of course, central to the identity of Catalonia where recent elections may have complicated the ongoing dispute with Spain about autonomy.