Joan Laporta. "We cannot ignore the social reality of Catalonia"
Víctor Font (Granollers, 1972) concludes the talk by making use of the Catalan proverb: «If the member considers that
'val més boig conegut que savi per conèixer
' [the literal translation would be 'known crazy who wise to know'], I will have to undertake other projects".
You don't need to ask him what he means.
Font, Joan Laporta's great rival to take over the presidency of Barcelona, that kid who played with typewriters at his father's Citroën dealership and who
He ended up making his fortune in the business world, he categorically denies that he lacks charisma.
He has been preparing these elections for seven years.
Do you have life solved?
Yes thank God.
It is what gives me freedom and independence.
Does it have to be like this to be the president of Barcelona?
Unfortunately, as it is assembled, either you have financial independence, or you have interests behind.
I am the son of Granollers, from a middle class family.
And this illusion could not have been raised to me 15 years ago.
I started my own business project, I made it grow with effort and dedication, and I was lucky that it went well for me.
I wonder how many candidates have real financial independence to consider being president.
You must have life resolved.
80% of my managers said 'no' when I went to look for them because they have vital projects.
They have no need to serve themselves.
We should do an analysis of which candidates have their lives solved, what assets each one has, how they are going to guarantee, what type of interests they have behind, what money are being spent on campaigns, who is paying that money.
All this, in a democratic and transparent club, should be a reality.
At what point does your financial situation change?
Starting in the third or fourth year since I started a company with an international vocation, Delta Partners.
We were very successful in the beginning and it allowed us to grow.
We open offices in Silicon Valley, New York, Singapore, Johannesburg, Dubai, Barcelona, Sydney.
And thanks to being the owner of a business that works very well, you create equity.
Pre-candidates have referred to "media interests."
You are a shareholder of the newspaper Ara.
They want to discredit.
The facts speak for themselves.
You just have to look at how the newspaper Ara has treated me and how it treats other candidates.
He treats Joan Laporta better than he treats me.
Would you keep those shares if you were president?
No. The pact I have with the shareholders is to sell them.
Do you think being the president of Barça makes your enemies grow?
There are many interests in the world of Barça.
I have noticed as the pre-election situation became real.
What do you mean?
People have approached me offering all kinds of promises.
That they would bring me signatures, that they would make me president, that they know how elections are won.
Like the whole process, both the collection of signatures and the vote, it is very archaic, I suppose there are people who with this type of promises intend to make a profit.
In exchange they asked me for a position in the club.
Or a salary.
It's amazing.
It is the reality of Barça today.
Does the marketing of firms, well, exist?
It exists one hundred percent.
Emili Rousaud denounced the other day that he had been offered a handful of signatures that he would pass the club's review pitfalls.
For money.
And I know that in the 2015 elections some candidate went to another candidate who did not pass the cut by offering money in exchange for a transfer of signatures.
That means falsifying them.
It is the problem of having archaic processes, in which you go with carbon paper.
It seems like when my father had the Citroën car dealership and as a child I went with the secretary to the typewriters.
My parents instilled in me the culture of work and effort.
Núñez was in jail.
Sandro Rosell too.
Bartomeu was charged.
Does this type of situation cause you concern?
No, it causes me the most absolute conviction of the need to change how Barça is governed.
I am very clear that the change in the management model is essential precisely to avoid this.
You have to put professional structures.
The sports part, in the hands of those who know best, not commission agents.
And, above all, people on the board who are going to serve Barça, not to serve themselves.
How do you plan to raise the club?
With memories of the past, no.
Nor with banners.
We are in the year 2021. Everything has changed.
In 2003 [date on which Joan Laporta won her first elections] Ansu Fati and Pedri had just been born.
Does the partner vote charisma?
In political elections you vote out of illusion, out of emotion.
I put myself on the site of the partners and, with the self-esteem we have now, I understand it perfectly.
That is why I ask that debates be encouraged, the more the merrier.
Not one and out of obligation.
It is essential for what we play.
How are you different from Laporta?
He is past and we are the future.
We acknowledge and are very grateful for all that you did.
But the time has come to turn the page to that stage that began in 2003, when that unique generation of footballers was about to explode and that has covered bad decisions in the management of all the presidents.
Now new leadership is needed.
Let us understand that a model in which the president decides everything does not work.
This is how projects do not succeed in the 21st century.
You say that Laporta should turn the page?
Without a doubt.
And I think he can make relevant contributions like any former president in this new phase.
But don't lead it.
What has been your strategy with Jordi Cruyff and, above all, with Xavi Hernández?
We have been able to work with Xavi for these last five years.
Doing a bit of analysis of what assets there are within Barcelona, we came to the conclusion that Xavi is unique, but not only as a coach, but that he can help the sports project a lot.
We also established a personal relationship, friendship, and we have many acquaintances.
Like Juli López (who would be the general director of sports), who is a person you trust.
This has allowed us to work and set up a structure that allows us to create the right conditions, as was done with Guardiola in Manchester, so that Xavi will be here for a long time.
All of this has been done outside of the political and electoral foci.
And it is Xavi who has Jordi Cruyff.
And it is Xavi who tells you that in the medical services he would like to have people he trust.
And in grassroots football.
And in the technical secretariat.
And we are complementing.
The elections arrive and the candidates are launched and say: 'Let's see if these are going to take over names now.'
What I tell Xavi from day one is that he is an asset of Barça.
They already laughed at us and asked me why I did it: 'If in the end you won't be able to count on players who get wet?'
And I did it because I want to have a pre-agreed project so that one day after the elections I know what I am going to do.
To the adversaries and according to which press they are interested in saying that Xavi has been unmarked.
Xavi has only spoken once, in El Periódico.
And he said that it was true that he has been talking to me about the future of Barça for five years.
With which, if it were unchecked, would it say this?
I would not do it.
But wouldn't it be important for Xavi to explicitly ask for your vote?
If I look only for the interests of my candidacy, then surely yes.
But there are other candidates who I suppose have also made him see that if he does this, he may have problems later.
In the past Pep Guardiola gave his support to Lluís Bassat.
Or Abidal to Laporta.
And then they changed ships.
In this case it has not occurred.
But it is not that important.
I understand that in the current mental framework, and with opponents making blood on the subject, it could be more so.
But the partner is smart and can read between the lines.
Furthermore, Xavi has said public things.
There is a video from a few months ago where he talks about the project and about me.
What goes through your head when you hear names like Neymar, Mbappé or Haaland in a campaign?
Here, as sometimes happens in politics, we have to see how the project can win over populism.
All of this about dropping names, or even ideas ... When projects or pre-candidacies are improvised, people release ideas like this: 'We're going to build a field somewhere else and while we're going to Montjuïc.
A happy idea to see if it generates headlines and offers some notoriety.
But it is irresponsible considering where the club is.
It is the big problem.
In some of his promotional videos, he has come out wearing a 'stellate' with the Barça flag.
He didn't even remember it.
It must be a photo with friends or from a party in the past.
But I have always explained it.
And when I said it, nobody believed me.
We have built a transversal project, with people of ideologies as diverse as Toni Nadal, the journalist Antoni Bassas or Dr. Cugat.
Here everyone understands that Barça should not be an instrument for politics.
But at the same time, Barça has its foundational roots intact.
Among them is Catalanism.
Are you an independentista?
Yes, but the ideology of different people does not have to impact the Barça government.
And the people of my candidacy would not want to be part of this project if they believed that Barça can be used as a political instrument.
How many politicians have supported me?
On one side or the other?
None.
There are other candidates who do have politicians who support them publicly.
Even elected officials.
If the partner wants a project that only thinks about Barça, and not politics, it is ours.
Have you visited Puigdemont in Waterloo?
No.
The candidate Toni Freixa thus hinted.
It's about throwing away crap.
Do you know Puigdemont?
Clear.
As shareholders of the newspaper Ara, the Carulla family, Fernando Rodés and myself, once a year, we made an institutional visit to the president.
We start with Artur Mas.
The last one we had with Quim Torra, and before with Puigdemont.
I have never spoken to any of these politicians about Barça.
Have they approached you from sovereign sectors?
No zero.
Could they do it in the future?
They are late.
Is the problem.
I am Victor Font.
But who is Víctor Font?
A partner of Granollers.
I am not anyone's child.
I do not need money.
If they offer me money in exchange for something, I will not care because I do not need it.
I am not affiliated with any party.
I am like a fish, difficult to get hold of it because it escapes.
Do you feel that it is uncomfortable?
Without a doubt.
That is why we do not receive the support of anyone.
Because there is no one who sees that they can take advantage of their interests.
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