Barcelona: Barcelona president Joan Laporta fired direct shots at his predecessor Josep Maria Bartomeu on Monday stating the latter sent a letter ‘full of lies’ to current management after he and his board resigned over Lionel Messi and the dressing room discontent.
“Bartomeu’s (open) letter is an effort to justify management that is unjustifiable. It is an exercise in desperation. They are responsible for everything until March 7. They will not escape their doing,” Laporta said in a press conference.
“The first thing we had to do when we arrived was to ask for a loan of 80m euros because, otherwise, we could not pay the salaries. The previous regime was full of lies.”
Laporta added that he had ‘terrible inheritance’ from the previous management and they should be held responsible for the current condition of Barcelona. “Barcelona has a negative net worth of €451m – it is a terrible inheritance. What has been happening is very worrying,” he added.
Barcelona's president, Joan Laporta, opens up on the club's financial situation. pic.twitter.com/gJGnhnszhk
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It has been only a week since Barcelona lost Messi to the French Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain. The club couldn’t provide enough economy to register Messi even after the former star had accepted a 50 per cent wage cut.
Messi’s departure brought huge discontent among the fans who were seen with banners outside Camp Nou. While some people accuse Laporta of not doing enough to keep the Argentine, a major chunk of people think it is entirely a fault of Bartomeu and his team.
“Our salaries represent 103 per cent of the club’s total income. That’s 20-25 per cent more than our competitors. We also found that we had to do some urgent repairs to the Camp Nou because otherwise, it posed a risk to the attending fans,” added Laporta.
“We also found out that the club had already received 50 per cent of the TV rights fees in advance. We found the wage policy in the form of an inverted pyramid – veterans on long contracts and youngsters on a short deal. There were no wages cuts – lies.”
Laporta also stated the financial condition of the club is in shambles and debt of reportedly €1.35bn. However, Bartomeu sent a letter to the current Barcelona board denying all the accusations met out to him. He further added that the Laporta and his men’s lack of action has added to the worry.
Meanwhile, Laporta provided with a ray of hope as he assured the fans and everyone related to the club that Barcelona’s condition would get better in the coming days. He also added that they will be working primarily on promoting La Masia to a higher level which had been Barcelona’s forte as the academy products have always been deemed as the best of a kind.
