A rotten state of affairs in boardroom of Camp Nou
Fifa announced on Wednesday that Barca had broken youth transfer rules and could not sign any new players for two transfer windows.
Club president Josep Maria Bartomeu’s reaction was to claim he favoured Fifa’s rules against the “trafficking” of youngsters by unscrupulous agents and clubs, but his club’s La Masia academy provides such an excellent all-round education for youngsters that it should be exempt from the rules.
“We agree with the regulations, what we want is for clubs like Barca to be an exception,” Bartomeu said on Thursday. Besides that weak legal argument, the blaugrana chief also strongly pushed the idea that Fifa’s ban was somehow part of a wide-ranging campaign to hurt his club.
“Externally they are trying to damage Barca,” Bartomeu said. “We are investigating and we have evidence. It will all come out in the end.”
Barca vice-president Javier Faus made similar claims to Catalan radio.
“None of this is happening by chance,” Faus said. “For five years Barca has been the victim of accusations. There are many people who do not like that Barca wins everything.”
The local sports press took their line from the club. Friday’s cover of Sport featured an image of the ‘black hand’ suspected of being behind the Fifa transfer ban, while Mundo Deportivo reported “suspicions” at the Camp Nou that La Liga rivals Real Madrid were the “principal cause” of the Fifa sanction.
This echoed the reaction the last time Barca’s board found themselves in trouble — in January when a Spanish court began investigating a potential fraud during Neymar’s transfer to the Camp Nou club last summer.
At that point there were claims Madrid president Florentino Perez was involved in a conspiracy which leaned on the court. Bartomeu fuelled this idea by speaking about “getting to the bottom” of leaks from the legal investigation, while Barca vice-president Carles Vilarrubi mentioned “powers” in Madrid out to get the Catalan club.
That Barca’s own club member Jordi Cases had sparked the inquiry by going to court after growing frustrated at a lack of transparency at the Camp Nou was just ignored.
This time around, Barca’s talk of dark forces is unlikely to help potential appeals of the transfer ban to Fifa or the Court of Arbitration for Sport, just as the Neymar “conspiracy theory” has not stopped Bartomeu’s predecessor Sandro Rosell resigning as president, the full cost of the Brazilian starlet’s transfer reaching €100 million, or criminal charges still being potentially brought against current or former Barca directors.
This week’s drama saw sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta reportedly offer his resignation during a heated meeting with the board, while coach Gerardo Martino forlornly called on Friday for the focus to return to the team, which could still win a treble of Champions League, Copa del Rey and La Liga trophies. His bosses seemed to ignore this call when they sanctioned a huge ‘Don’t touch La Masia’ (above) banner to be unveiled pre kick-off in Saturday’s 3-1 home win against Real Betis.
The whole mess recalled Lionel Messi’s statement last December, as he took offence at comments about a potential new contract made by Barca vice president Javier Faus.
“Mister Faus is someone who knows nothing about football,” Messi said then. “Barca is the best team in the world. It deserves to be represented by the best directors.”
The Argentinian doesn’t often say much so interesting or perceptive in public. This time he was clear.
