Thread by @infosfcb

Summary of Joan Laporta's press conference today where he explained the results of the audit and the actual situation of FC Barcelona.

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Good morning everyone, I want to explain the situation since we arrived at the club in March.”

⬇️ THREAD – ALL Quotes

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “When we arrived at the club, the first thing we did was take a loan from Goldman Sachs Bank in order to pay the salaries.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “we has to ask for a loan of 80 million euros because if that wasn't the case, we wouldn't be able to pay the salaries.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “We also found that we had to do urgent repair work at the Camp Nou because if that wasn't fixed, the people who attend the stadium would be at risk. This cost us €1.8 million. We acted fast and consequently, the public has been able to come safely this Sunday.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “When we arrived, we found out that the club had already taken 50% of the La Liga TV rights in advance.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “The previous board's salary policy that we stumbled upon is wrong. Experts call it the inverted pyramid and it means that veterans have long contracts while young players have short contracts. This makes it very difficult to renegotiate contracts & renew them.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Incredible numbers have been paid to intermediaries. For example, there is a scout in South America who charges 8 million euros to discover talent, an inappropriate amount that has had a huge impact on the club's economy!”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “The impact #COVID19 is 91 million euros.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “We have a salary bill that represents 103% of the club's total income. The salary of our sport athletes is set at 617 million euros, that's 25% to 30% more than our competitors!”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Barcelona have a debt of of 451 million euros.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “The cheers from the fans yesterday was very good, they are behind the team and we are looking forward to what's next.”

Bartomeu's letter?

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “I was waiting for this question, I received the letter from Bartomeu, it was made available to everyone and I respect that but I see it full of lies. With an effort to justify a management that is unjustifiable."

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “I don't like the lies in the letter, nor do I share the numbers that Bartomeu is talking about, it's completely different. His board was responsible for the consequences of their management until March 17th, 2021. No one will escape their responsibilities."

🗣️ Joan Laporta “As of today, the debt is 1,350 million euros. The economic and patrimonial situation is very worrying and the financial situation is tragic."

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “The Barça Corporate offer was unacceptable. It was a lie that was meant to cover holes in the short term. Barça Studio is not yet ready to sell Barça Corporate.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “They were thinking about selling Barça Studio but couldn't since there was an agreement with Rakuten that prevented them from doing that. I don't know what they were thinking.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “In Bartomeu's letter, he spoke of another 90 million euros salary cut planned. The truth is that the players didn't even want to talk to him. "

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “The previous board left the Camp Nou open when there were (structural) dangers, and they knew it.”

🗣️Joan Laporta: “Bartomeu said we forgave Neymar for €16 million, that's another lie. I'd like to remind him of all the damage the Neymar deal has done to Barça's image. There were 4 open cases with Neymar, and it was in the best interests of Barça to settle & avoid more risks.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “The vision of the Bartomeu's board was short-term, and that's how it went. The inheritance is very terrifying and disturbing.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “They received €222 million in the Neymar deal and spent it at the speed of light and inappropriately.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “In 2019, La Liga sent two alerts to Barcelona about the high increase in salary, and how did Bartomeu's board deal with that? They raised salaries!!!”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “The Johan Cruyff stadium had a budget of 4 million euros and it ended up costing 20 million euros.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “We are reformulating the Espai Barça project so that it affects Socios as little as possible. We hope to start working on the Camp Nou in summer 2022.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Bartomeu's letter was full of lies and I wanted to explain everything clearly. The ex-president's statement at this time is not good.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Bartomeu's speech contained 8 points and all 8 of them were lies. He has led this club to ruins.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Legal accountability for the previous board? It's too early to talk about that, there should be a legal study before doing anything. What is for sure is that they are responsible for everything that is happening.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Gerard Pique is more than just a player, he loves the club and understands the circumstances we are in. Not everyone reduced their salary like he did!”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Kun Agüero has not yet been registered but we're expecting the other leaders to act like Piqué did! The conversations with Alba Busquets-Roberto are very good and we understand it is a complicated issue but we are sure that it will be resolved.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “We have 5 shirt sponsorship offers. The situation is dramatic, but we have good news that our strategic plan and the experience we have give us credibility and I am sure we will get through this.”

Will salaries be reduced or postponed?

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “In general, the players resolved the issue of fixed bonuses. For Piqué, we made a reduction and thanks to that, we were able to register others. There are expected delays or suspension of bonuses & we're working on that.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “The Espai Barça project was outdate, we are restructuring it. It won't be a completely new project but there are differences.”

What do you have to say about the person (Jaume Lopis) who resigned from the board of directors?

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Nothing, that person wasn't in the board of directors and It's better for me not to say anything.”

Your reaction after reading Bartomeu's letter?

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “I read it while I was on the plane and I couldn't believe what he did, a letter full of lies...”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “The players had reduced their salaries because of Covid, now we want another effort. At first no one wanted to reduce his salary, but then they understood our situation. We're confident that we'll solve this issue, first with the captains & then other players.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “We knew the club's bad situation, we love Barça, I'm optimistic, especially after watching the team yesterday. I think we made all the right decisions. About Messi, I'm sad but it was necessary. No one is bigger than the club. We are strong, we are very strong.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “La Liga allows us to sign players if we release 100 million euros in salaries, then only can we record a new salary of up to 25 million, for example.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “I think the relationship with Leo Messi went on for a long time and then deteriorated. It is the law of life.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Seeing Messi at PSG gave me very contradictory feelings. I would have preferred to see him in Barcelona but the club is above everyone else.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Well, we're two years ahead of the dates for post-Messi. This era was scheduled to start two years from today.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “We did everything possible for Messi within the financial means of the club and that's what I will do again as that's what I've always said. As for the small details of negotiation, we will keep them confidential in respect and appreciation to Leo.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Barcelona is not a company that can be closed, we are more open than ever. Debt means we have to keep working. It's a difficult situation, but we have the ability to generate a very strong income. We receive many proposals from sponsors that can raise us.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Koeman is happy with the team he has and can already tell which players he counts on and which ones he doesn't. We will work until the end of the summer market on August 31.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “We failed to achieve the expected results for Leo Messi's last years. We would all have liked his career to end here, but for several reasons that wasn't possible.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “Yes, if La Liga had been a little flexible, we could have kept Leo Messi.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “We thought we could extend Messi's contract as we expected to have the budget from the old administration. Since the budget was wrong, we had to review our it all and find out the real situation.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “We wanted to sell players and cut wages to register Messi, but La Liga offered us to sell Barcelona in exchange for Messi.”

@BarcaWorldwide 🗣️ Joan Laporta: “La Liga gave us false hopes when they said they allowed us a margin to sign Messi. At the end of the day they told us we had to sign an agreement to do it.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “I'm more experienced than I was in 2003, and I'm even better surrounded. I see an enthusiastic team and fans who want to support their club in a complicated situation.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “We are not thinking of selling Ansu Fati or something similar to reverse the club's economic situation.”

🗣️ Joan Laporta: “We are excited. My message to the fans is they have to be united.”

* * * End Of Thread * * *
➡️ Quotes via @FCBW_A7