Futbol Club Barcelona president-elect Joan Laporta has obtained the financial guarantee he needs to be the new head of the giant Catalan club. Obtaining the required economic support took a little longer than expected, but within the deadline, Laporta and his team have obtained the bank guarantee whose bottom line notes the sum of 124.6 million euros, equivalent to 15% of the club's budget, the amount stipulated in the club bylaws.
A critical moment
The issue of the bank guarantee was complicated, but Laporta obtained the necessary support to reach the figure and thus begin a second period as club president. It should be noted that one of the critical moments of the last few days was when Jaume Giró, former CaixaBank chief who was presented as his economic vice-president, decided not to join the board "for professional reasons".
Laporta celebrates his victory at the polls / EFE
Giró's resignation led to the entry of Eduard Romeu, vice-president of Audax Renovables, an energy company founded in 2000, based in Barcelona, whose business is the generation and marketing of renewable electricity and gas.
Transfer of powers with Tusquets
Now, the next step is to send the guarantee and documentation to the Spanish football league for validation. And then, the investiture of Laporta will take place on Wednesday afternoon, around 6pm, and after a transfer of powers with the interim management committee, chaired by Carles Tusquets. Tusquets and Laporta will sit down at a desk for two hours before the ceremony to finish the certification process.
Laporta, in the Camp Nou presidential box / EFE
One of the key problems in this episode was that Banc Sabadell, which is guaranteeing the amount of 124.6 million euros, demanded a counter-guarantee from the board. The directors were able to reach a total of 50 million euros and, thus, a sum of more than 70 million euros remained, which was covered by Audax.
Meanwhile - returning to the club's real business, football - the FC Barcelona team continued on its winning way on Monday night, beating Huesca 4-1 to consolidate its second position in the Spanish league where it is now just four points behind Atlético de Madrid, the leader. Laporta, invited by Tusquets, was present in the Camp Nou presidential stand and witnessed another record-breaking day for Leo Messi. The Argentine reached his 767th match with Barça and thus equalled Xavi Hernández as the player with the most matches in the club's first team. To celebrate, Messi scored a brace, one of them a work of art, and led his team to another victory.
Main image: Joan Laporta in an archive image / Estimem el Barça