By Xavier Sala i Martín, former board member and treasurer at FC Barcelona 2004 - 2010
Original article in Spanish and Catalan here.
I have a rule not to comment on Barca unless if it is to defend the board of directors of Joan Laporta, which I was a member of. In three articles published before (October 2 and October 17 and November 2 ), I explained that Sandro Rosell (1) missed the truth when he said that "upon arrival at the club there was not a single euro in the box", (2) had deceived the newspapers when he leaked few invoices that allegedly showed the unjustified squandering of Laporta (neither there were bills, nor unjustified) and (3) had induced the assembly to vote for actions against Laporta based on a false summary of the whole situation.
Again, I write about Barca following the presentation of the accounts of the 2011-12 season because the numbers make many things clear. Since coming to office, Rosell has not stopped repeating that he had inherited a poorly run club financially. He said the problem was not the revenue (already a record at the time) but the cost, full of assumed squandering. To get rid of all that squandering, he announced a policy of austerity and cuts: among other things, removed the ink color printers, eliminated some sections and did not pay the invoice of the security system that the club had put in Laporta’s family house (Who received death threats by the violent groups that had been expelled from the club by President Laporta).
These savings, of course, have brought a huge reduction in spending ...Oops! Sorry! Now that I look, I see that the costs of this season, 442 million are higher than the 428 million of Laporta’s last year! I see that both wages and non-athletic sports have increased by 3 million over 2010 and "other amortizations" in 2.6. Operating expenses have increased by 14 million, going from 87.2 to 101,300,000 euros.
Apart from the amortization of players, the only item that has "fallen" is the "other expenses”, which corresponds to some provisions imposed arbitrarily by the new board when they arrived, reformulated so bizarrely Laporta’s accounts and arbitrarily attributed a lot of "expenses" in the form of provisions. For the inexpert, the provisions are not a result of actual expenditure or waste but a sketch book in recognition of future risk (notable for its magnitude, Sogecable providing 37.5 million). When occurring in timely and non-recurring provisions, it automatically disappeared in 2010 in 2011 and 2012 without having anything to do with Rosell.
We, therefore, conclude that the supposed austerity of Rosell has not only failed to -comparably -reduce the total costs, but has increased it by 14 million over the 2010! This increase is somewhat surprising especially when you consider that in 2010 they won La Liga and Euro league of basketball, which entailed an expenditure of 38 million in wage variables. Current board has not had the challenge to face such expenses this year, because, unfortunately, has not won any of these two major titles.
This increase in expenditure leads me to a thought: if, as Rosell said in 2010, allegedly catastrophic situation was due to uncontrolled spending, how the situation may have changed without reducing that expense? Could it be that what they said in 2010 was not true? Could it be that they have failed to cut the squandering because in reality there was no extravagance to cut? Could it be that the alleged losses of 2010 were not real and were not caused by the squandering but were accountants’ and were caused by a malicious and arbitrary provisions, designed to discredit the former president and bring him to justice?
And while we ask, isnt it funny that Barca get a benefit of 48 million just two years after the current president said he had inherited a bankrupt club? Isnt it funny that they have obtained the highest profits in history right now, when other companies and institutions in the country are drowning in the midst of a financial crisis? The answer is no. It's not funny because it is untrue that the club that Laporta left was ruined. Plaster is seen in the income statement presented by the club now ... Yet not in the expenditure but in revenue!: This season has entered a record 495 million euros. An important part is due to the good work of this board that has managed to negotiate sponsorship agreements, advertising, stadium tours and exploitation. That is clear. But no one doubts that, even if you're a great negotiator, you cannot get all these contracts without a good product. And the "product" that Russell has found (again, found) when he arrived, was a team that had already won it!
That is, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Puyol, Abidal, Valdes, Alves, Guardiola, Vilanova and the rest of the sports structure, all are great sports assets. Besides, there are some extraordinary economic assets that have allowed the current board to negotiate a contract, which, without having to cut costs have generated the highest profits in history. And that, although Sandro Rosell and his board persist in hiding, is the real proof of the good management of the previous board, the true legacy of Laporta ...
