 |
|
Spain: Shine goes off Laporta's presidency at Barcelona [Sat Oct 15th, 2005]
Madrid (Reuters) - At the end of last season, Barcelona president Joan Laporta was on the crest of a wave, enjoying massive popularity among club members after the Catalans wrapped up their first league trophy in six years.
With a crop of world-class players such as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and Deco on their books, Barca looked to have broken the domination of Real Madrid in Spanish football.
The club also appeared to have taken the first steps towards solving their crippling debt crisis and announced that they were on the verge of signing one of football's most lucrative shirt sponsorship deals with the Chinese government.
Just a few months on, however, a succession of bitter internal squabbles, high-profile resignations from the board, cloudy financial dealings and mixed fortunes on the pitch have taken the shine off the Laporta presidency.
The latest incident to undermine the Barca chief's credibility is a row over the political affiliations of his brother-in-law and fellow director Alejandro Echevarria.
Official documents published in the Spanish press showed that Echevarria was once a member of a foundation honouring former dictator Franciso Franco.
The revelations have sent shockwaves through a club that has traditionally identified itself with Catalan nationalism and opposition to the right-wing dictator who ruled Spain with an iron hand between 1939 and his death in 1975.
The organisation, whose president is the dictator's daughter Carmen, lists one of its aims as "contributing to the defence of the memory and the work of the 'Caudillo' (leader) that have been attacked without justice in such a disgraceful and unhistoric manner."
LEGAL THREAT
Although Echevarria has denied that he is now a member of the organisation, Laporta could be damaged by the widespread belief that he tried to conceal his brother-in-law's affiliations.
"Echevarria is not, never has been, and will never be a member of that foundation," Laporta said last year when first questioned about the matter.
Former Barcelona presidential candidate and influential club member Josep Maria Minguella has threatened legal action and a vote of no confidence against Laporta and his board over the matter.
The controversy is just the latest in a long line of incidents that have persuaded many people that Laporta has lost touch with the members whose motto is "mes que un club" (more than a club).
Laporta first made his name as the head of the "Elefant Blau" (Blue Elephant) group which campaigned for years against Josep Lluis Nunez, the man who held the post of club president from 1978 to 2000.
He was catapulted to power as Barcelona president in July 2003 on the back of his promise to negotiate the purchase of David Beckham from Manchester United.
Beckham had in fact already agreed to join arch-rivals Real Madrid, but the pledge was enough to give Laporta a surprise victory in the presidential race.
The fans quickly forgave him for failing to meet his pledge when he managed to bring Ronaldinho to the Nou Camp instead.
The slickly dressed, media-friendly young lawyer settled well into the job, giving new coach Frank Rijkaard his unquestioned backing and winning widespread praise for his brave clampdown on the club's ultra fans.
DISENCHANTED DIRECTORS
His calm and apparently relaxed approach to running the club contrasted sharply with the heart-on-the-sleeve emotion of his predecessor Joan Gaspart and his patience was rewarded with a recovery in prestige and sporting fortunes.
Just as Barcelona were closing in on the league title last season, however, divisions began to surface once more.
Former right-hand man Sandro Rosell, who brought Ronaldinho and Deco to the club, resigned as vice-president and the board lost several other leading directors who had become disenchanted with Laporta's increasingly domineering style.
Rosell and the directors accused Laporta of running the club with a cabal of advisors and of paying more attention to the advice of former coach Johan Cruyff than to the board members themselves.
The secrecy that shrouded an apparent first shirt sponsorship deal provided further ammunition for Laporta's critics.
The press were told in April that the club was about to sign a contract with Chinese authorities worth 19 million euros for five years, but the deal has yet to materialise.
Laporta was then accused of bringing the club into disrepute when he hurled his shoes into the air and stripped to his underpants during an argument with airport staff over a security scan.
Bureaucratic mismanagement that has prevented Argentine prodigy Lionel Messi from playing in the league, the deterioration of relations with neighbours Espanyol over a loan deal for Javier Saviola and a host of other controversial decisions have seriously undermined the president's position.
Laporta is finding to his cost that the job of running Barcelona is far more difficult than the task of taking power.
News headlines from around the world.