FC Barcelona: Josep Maria Bartomeu irritates with statements about the super league

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Has been in office for five years: Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu 

Photo: JOSEP LAGO / AFP

Josep Maria Bartomeu took off the Barça face mask.

Then he announced what had just leaked out.

Nothing stays a secret for long in this big club with a difficult environment, and that is what he ultimately stumbled upon.

But above all about a considerable series of breakdowns, bankruptcies and scandals.

It was shortly after 9 p.m. on Tuesday evening: Bartomeu announced his resignation as president of FC Barcelona.

After months of wasting away, the move was seen as a relief in the club environment.

Without the pandemic, it might have had to happen much earlier.

Bartomeu's squad policy, the choice of coach and manager, as well as the escalating wage costs had been under attack for a long time when a process was revealed at the end of February that is not seen every day at a football club.

In the social networks, a company commissioned by the club had sung the song of praise to Bartomeu, while it raised the mood against critics, club legends and even active professionals.

The affair was known as "Barçagate" - and caused massive expressions of displeasure against Bartomeu in the last home games before the lockdown in March.

Add to that little things like the historical debacle at 2: 8 against Bayern Munich or Lionel Messi's attempted resignation by fax, and the member Jordi Farré started an initially neglected signature collection for a no-confidence referendum against Bartomeu.

The club management did not expect that the necessary 16,250 votes would come together within a short period of two weeks, especially in times of pandemic.

But with the support of other opposition groups, Farré reached over 20,000.

The penultimate shot of piqué

Defense chief Gerard Piqué, lifelong club member and accomplished entrepreneur with a flair for the moment, gave Bartomeu the penultimate thrust with an interview in Barcelona's prestigious newspaper "La Vanguardia" last Friday.

"If we players had power at certain moments, it was only because others didn't want to exercise it," he said of the frequent allegations of cabin dominance.

Like the German goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, Piqué was one of four professionals who accepted a salary deferment because of the corona crisis, while the rest of the team only communicated about it through a lawyer anyway.

Nevertheless, Piqué also made it clear that there was no longer a basis of trust between the club management and the squad.

"There are things that remain," he said, describing the fact that Bartomeus Spindoctor Jaume Masferrer, ideologue of "Barçagate", is still employed by the club as "very painful".

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Powerful players with influence: Piqué and Messi

Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP

However, the Catalan regional government finally ensured Bartomeu's end.

At the beginning of the week, she opposed Barça's motion to postpone Farré's vote of no confidence because of the pandemic until mid-November.

With any further delay, Bartomeu would have violated the deadlines prescribed in the club's statutes.

The association declared that it was unable to hold the referendum this coming weekend due to the sanitary situation.

In Catalonia, all bars, cafés and restaurants have been closed for ten days, there is a night curfew and public life has practically come to a standstill.

The decentralized holding of the ballot in 13 places in Catalonia - and eight more in the rest of Spain - could not be organized by the weekend, according to Bartomeu.

Election campaign with Xavi as upcoming Barcelona coach

Insiders took it for granted that he would not have stood up for the vote because he had little chance of receiving a third of the necessary votes to remain in office.

No significant trend in the club supported him, especially since he would have been eliminated in March 2021 anyway.

In the end, he was left with the stab in the back legend that the "contradicting and irresponsible" pressure of politics had forced his withdrawal.

After his foster father Sandro Rosell - who resigned in 2014 due to dubious contractual structures when Neymar signed up - the second Barça president in a row is now leaving the office.

Because his entire board of directors resigned with him, the club is now being led by a transitional commission for the time being.

Her powers are limited, above all she has to prepare new elections, which have to take place within the next three months.

Five members had already announced their candidacy for the original March date, including Farré and Víctor Font, who advertises with club icon Xavi as the new coach.

A decision from Joan Laporta is eagerly awaited, the president from better times (2003 to 2010) flirting with the idea of ​​a comeback.

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Currently still a trainer in Qatar at the al-Sadd Sport Club: Barcelona icon Xavi

Photo: Kai Pfaffenbach / REUTERS

All favorites are united by their clear demarcation from Bartomeu.

Font also took part in collecting signatures, Laporta tweeted about the resignation of his long-time opponent: "It was about time! Finally ways are opening to restore Barça."

Goodbye the super league?

But possibly this process will take place under revolutionary framework conditions.

During his farewell speech, Bartomeu mentioned several times a process that extends far beyond Barcelona.

He said in detail: "I can announce that yesterday (

we

decided on the requirements to become part of a European super league. The decision to start there has to be to be confirmed by the next general meeting. "

The scenario of a closed European league - according to some sources with 18 clubs, including five English clubs - has been haunting the landscape again for several weeks.

If you follow Bartomeu, the plans are not only concrete, but more or less decided.

He did not give any further details.

To what extent other clubs are already sure of their position remains to be seen.

From the Spanish league boss Javier Tebas, Bartomeu was immediately opposed, the functionary spoke of a "phantom competition".

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