Barcelona president says Europe’s financial rules are unfair

Barcelona president Joan Laporta criticized the existence of different rules of financial fair play in European football during a lecture this Monday (28) in the Catalan capital.

To prevent clubs from gaining a financial advantage through debt, UEFA (the governing body of football in Europe) has rules that limit the amount spent by clubs each year.

In a similar logic, some countries adopt their own expenditure and revenue regulation. In the case of Spain, the rules are stricter than those of UEFA.

“We managed to raise funds, that’s not the problem. The problem is that it’s a competition and the rules aren’t the same for everyone. Then it gets difficult,” said Laporta. “Europe has to be aware that it can’t go on like this.”

The representative also criticized the “star” players who “only think about the money” and don’t want to know anything else. “We value the professional and a good contract is a way of recognizing the value of talent, but money is not the most important thing,” he said.

According to the manager, the profile of Barcelona’s signings should not only focus on talent, but also on whether the players are “nice people, who value the human aspect”.

Barcelona is going through an off-field crisis. When he took over, Laporta declared that the club had a debt of more than R$8 billion caused by previous mismanagements and aggravated by the pandemic, which forced the team to play with its stadium, Camp Nou, completely empty.

Due to Spain’s financial fair play rules, the club lost some of its stars to wipe out the payroll. The most notable of these losses was Argentine Lionel Messi, Barca’s idol and six-time best in the world, who moved to Paris Saint-Germain in August last year.

PSG is one of the clubs that fall under Laporta’s criticism, as are Manchester City and Chelsea, reigning Champions League champions, and others that have billionaire fund investments. These clubs have managed to jump to a competitive level in recent years with the money injected.

On the pitch, Barcelona had a bad start to the year and ended up eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League.

In recent weeks, however, the team has geared up and has been unbeaten for seven matches – considering only LaLiga, in which it occupies fourth position with 45 points, 15 less than leaders Real Madrid, has not lost in ten games. On Sunday (27), the Catalan team thrashed Athletic Bilbao 4-0 at home.

Innovation to survive

Laporta’s criticism came in participation in Mobile World Congress 2022, one of the main technology events in the world, which takes place this week in Barcelona.

Speaking to a high-tech audience, Laporta said that in order to remain competitive, Barcelona would need to be more efficient than their opponents on the business side. The idea is to position the club in the entertainment industry and not just as a sports association.

“Our role is to win titles and keep the fans happy,” said the manager. “But at the same time, it’s necessary to make a profit in the sports industry. It’s a matter of survival, because we don’t have a big corporation or a big fund behind the club to solve financial problems.”

Among the initiatives mentioned, the club should start selling NFTs (digital goods) and enter the “metaverse” – a new way of consuming online content, in which there is greater interaction and integration with the physical world, as through reality glasses virtual.

“We want to create something that is controlled by the club itself,” said Laporta, rejecting the idea of ​​using a ready-made system for that. The idea, he explains, is to use specialized professionals hired by the club and partner with market-leading companies for support.

This connection with the world of technology should lead to sponsorships from companies in the sector. The Barcelona president said there were negotiations in this regard that should take place soon, but declined to give details.

With the digital shift, Laporta says he hopes to more easily connect with younger audiences by going where those people already are. “Our next foray is into the entertainment industry, especially in two areas: streaming and video games.”