Barça's institutional silence is over. After FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta said earlier this Thursday that the Super League was "absolutely necessary", the Catalan club issued a statement this afternoon to explain its position at length.
"We understand that it is a necessity, and at the same time our club members will have the final say," Laporta told Catalonia's TV3. He added: "It is absolutely necessary that the big clubs, as we are the major contributors in terms of resources, in the (economic) distribution, have the ability to state what we want. It has to be accompanied by an attractive competition, based on sporting merit. We are advocates for the maintenance of country leagues and we are always open to dialogue with UEFA. We want better football."
Later came the club's full statement:
In the statement, Barça explained the need to create a new competition that "guarantees the financial sustainability and feasibility of world football" and also argued that the new competition would increase the spectacle offered.
The basic idea of the Super League came largely from former Barça president Josep Maria Bartomeu. On the day of his resignation he was the first to make a public statement about this new tournament and the recently-elected Barça board under new president Laporta "agreed" to be part of it.
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin said today: "I was disappointed by all the [participating] clubs, but perhaps least by Barça," he commented, stressing that Laporta had "inherited the club's situation".
Roberto, Busquets, Messi, Piqué, Laporta, Koeman and Yuste with the Copa del Rei, won by Barça last weekend with a 4-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao/ FCB
"The decision was made in the conviction that it would have been an historical error to turn down the opportunity to be part of this project as one of its founding members," the Catalan club has defended.
In addition, Barça specified that the final decision to participate in the Super League will be up to the members. It has also been detailed that, in the face of the turmoil of recent days, the club wants to be "prudent" and analyze the situation closely.
Barça's statement
"1.- FC Barcelona shares the view of most major European football clubs, and even more so given the current socio-economic climate, that there is a need for structural reforms to guarantee the financial sustainability and feasibility of world football by improving the product that is offered to fans around the world and by consolidating and even increasing the fan base on which this sport is sustained, which is its mainstay and greatest strength.
In this context, the FC Barcelona Board of Directors accepted, as a matter of immediate urgency, the offer to form part, as the founding member, of the Super League, a competition designed to improve the quality and attractiveness of the product offered to the football fans and, at the same time, and as one of FC Barcelona's most inalienable principles, seek new formulas for solidarity with the football family as a whole.
The decision was made in the conviction that it would have been a historical error to turn down the opportunity to be part of this project as one of its founding members. As one of the world's top sports club, our intention shall always be to be at the forefront, this being an indispensable part of the club's identity and its sporting, social and institutional spirit.
In whatever case, FC Barcelona, as a club that always has been and always shall be owned by each and every one of its members, expressly reserved the right to submit such an important decision to the final approval of its competent social bodies following careful and very necessary study of the proposal.
2.- Given the public reaction that the aforementioned project has generated in many and various spheres, there is no question that FC Barcelona appreciates that a much more in-depth analysis is required into the reasons that have caused this reaction in order to reconsider, if necessary, and to the required extent, the proposal as originally formulated and resolve all those issues, always for the good of the general interest of the football world. Such in-depth analysis needs time and the necessary composure to avoid taking any rash action.
We feel it is equally important to highlight the objective fact that a Court of Justice has already granted urgent legal protection as requested, thus confirming right of the initiative on the part of the founding clubs of the Super League project. In this regard, FC Barcelona considers that it would be improper for the necessary process of reflection and debate to be established under criteria of unjustified pressure and intimidation.
Despite being perfectly aware of the importance and interest raised by this matter, as well as the need to always act with the utmost transparency, FC Barcelona shall act at all times with due prudence and asks for the utmost understanding, respect and most of all patience among FC Barcelona supporters and public opinion in general."
Main image: Barça's shield / Maria Contreras Coll