Barcelona President Fires Back At Critics Seeking To Undermine The Club

Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has slammed the club’s critics and claimed a campaign to destabilize the club is behind the Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor registration saga.

Olmo and Víctor’s registrations for the second half of the season were denied after La Liga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) stated that Barcelona failed to meet the December 31 deadline.

This deadline was crucial for demonstrating compliance with financial fair play (FFP) regulations.

Laporta maintains Barça provided all the necessary documentation to prove they were in a position to extend Olmo and Víctor’s registrations in time.

Spain’s supreme sports council (CSD) has since ruled Barça could argue, granting Olmo and Víctor temporary registrations while they asses the case.

“A lot of people set out with the intention to destabilize the club from the outside but also the inside,” Laporta said in a news conference that lasted almost two hours on Tuesday.

“They want to knock the club at a key moment in our history, with a young team that’s going to bring a lot of joy to the club.

“But they will have to work a lot harder to bury us. They will have to work hard if they hope to destabilize a club with 125 years of history.

“We are used to it now, nothing that has happened during the past few weeks surprises me at all. Any campaign to discredit the club will not stop us from being a reference around the world and admired by millions of people globally.”

Laporta refrained from specifically identifying the sources of the campaigns but expressed his disapproval of opposition groups within the club that demanded his resignation due to the handling of Olmo and Víctor’s registrations.

“They had a chance to show that they love Barça and they did not take advantage of it,” he added. “They took the side of those that want to damage the club.”

He also criticized those La Liga sides, including Atlético Madrid, Valencia, and Espanyol, who released statements last week criticizing the CSD’s decision to reinstate Olmo and Víctor.

“I regret that there are clubs that have positioned themselves against us,” he said. “It was out of place and it surprised us, but everyone has a right to their opinion.

“We are grateful to those clubs that have not positioned themselves against us.”

Laporta also attempted to explain why he feels the club complied with LaLiga’s FFP rules in time to register with Olmo and Víctor.

He explained that a new agreement with kit supplier Nike is valued at twice the amount that was previously received from the American company through 2028, and then triple the amount until 2038.

The president also explained the sale of 475 VIP seats at Spotify Camp Nou, which is currently being redeveloped, saying they have been sold to companies in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in a deal worth around €100 million to the club.

“All the paperwork was presented to LaLiga on Dec. 27,” he said. “Over the following days leading to the [deadline], LaLiga requested more documentation, and by Dec. 31, we thought we had everything in order.

“They then requested more [information] which we were not in agreement with.”