By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 15 – Barçelona, with their fan membership scheme, have often been trumpeted as the ideal model for running a football club but even they are now embroiled in an off-the-field dispute making headlines in Spain.
Barça officials insist they will pursue €23 million the Spanish Supreme court has ruled the club is owed by ex-president Joan Laporta and seven former board members, while Laporta himself says the whole episode is simply a personal attack orchestrated by current president Sandro Rosell.
The court decision stems from a move by Barçelona member (socio) Vicenc Pla to bring a case against Laporta and the other seven men, saying they should be personally responsible for guaranteeing a €23 million deficit dating back several years.
It is the latest development in a wider civil war at the Catalan club between factions led by its two most recent presidents. Spokesperson Toni Freixa said that the previous board agreed to the guarantee and must now fulfil that pledge. “It clarifies for once and for all the mandate of the previous board,” he said. “We expect that we will receive the guarantee, because we live in a society which respects the law.”
Under Spanish law, the court ruling is only enforced if the person bringing the case decides to do so. Pla, unknown until he launched his case in 2010, told Catalunya Radio he had yet to make up his mind. “We have not yet decided,” Pla said. “The sentence is in our favour, and in favour of the club. [But] if they knew they had an obligation to cover the guarantee, why do they not do it?”
Spain’s AS newspaper reported that Laporta viewed the case as part of a dirty tricks campaign against him by the current regime, and also that the debts in fact came from Joan Gaspart, who held the club presidency between 2000 and 2003.
“They are the ones who have made the claims,” Laporta said. “They are hiding behind Vicenc Pla and want to discredit our good management. It is shameful.”
Meanwhile Barçelona have hailed the club’s first midday Primera Division kickoff as a great success in terms of exploiting the lucrative prime-time Asian market. While Real Madrid played its first midday game in November, Barcelona’s 6-1 thrashing of Getafe on Sunday was its first match under the new scheme.
The game was broadcast live in China and the attendance of 85,610 was Barçelona’s third-largest league gate this season. “This was a great success for the fans and a great game,” said Freixa. “We’ve sorted out any doubts we had and it’s clear that we can play at midday, although we have always said that playing at that time could harm the regional game.”
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