Former Barcelona president hits out at Laporta – ‘Self-serving narrative from the board’ | OneFootball

Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has been exceedingly active in front of the mic in recent weeks, continually coming out in the open to defend his board.

After all, the narrative of his financial mismanagement has come to the fore once more in recent weeks, and the former president is now seemingly looking to pin the blame back on Joan Laporta and Co.

The current board continue to work hard to return to the financial 1:1 rule, something that seemed impossible for years given the exorbitant salaries Bartomeu and Co. offered players. Now, finally, the goal appears within reach.

Bartomeu’s defence

The former Barcelona president spoke to the media recently, where he defended himself and his board from claims that they destabilised the club’s economy.

He began by explaining that the truth was far from what was projected and that Joan Laporta’s board was responsible for the financial downfall.

“I have heard it many times, but it is not true. It is part of a self-serving narrative from the current board that I could accept for a year or two, but more than five and a half years have passed and they are still at it.”

“So, I say categorically: no. What is true is that Barça suffered from Covid, like most big teams in Europe, and that meant that during those 18 months, the club stopped earning around €500 million,” he added.

Bartomeu insists he did not ‘ruin’ Barcelona’s financial situation. (Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)

He then openly claimed that Joan Laporta’s board ‘inflated’ the economic losses for the fiscal year during the pandemic, paving the way for all the financial mess.

“I am not the one saying it; the audit says it. The auditor states in their report that there are a series of items that the board of directors wants to add. And the losses, which were €283 million, are inflated. Those were the losses.”

“And this also appears at the Tax Agency. When Barça presents its annual accounts to the Tax Agency, for corporate tax, Barça makes corrections and reduces those €555 million that were approved in the Assembly down to €283 million,” he added.

He was then asked why the current board would make such a move to begin with, to which he replied by insisting that it was to meet the pre-electoral promises.

“I believe it has to do with the guarantee.”

Elaborating on the same, he explained what he implied by the ‘guarantee’ made by Laporta.

“In 2021, they presented a guarantee to be able to be directors when they won the elections.”

“I think they thought about inflating the losses in that fiscal year so that later, if nothing happened, they could reverse them the following year, present profits, and remove the guarantee,” he added.

Blaming Laporta’s board for continuing the same struggle and methodology even today, Bartomeu said,

“What I find amazing is that they continue repeating it five and a half years later. That seems to me like taking advantage of an invented narrative, a narrative that is not true, to justify things happening at the club that do not seem right to me.”

Source: Mundo Deportivo