The elections for the presidency of FC Barcelona have entered their final phase with the validation of four candidates out of the nine presented at the start: the favorite Joan Laporta and three outsiders, Victor Font, Toni Freixa and Emili Rousaud.
The elections are scheduled for January 24.
We can already wish good luck to the future elected who will inherit an alarming situation according to the revelations of
La Vanguardia
.
According to the Catalan daily, the renovation of Lionel Messi's contract, the obsession of the four contenders for the throne, will not necessarily constitute the main challenge of the next term.
Because the financial situation of the Blaugranas would be quite simply catastrophic.
“Barça: austerity or insolvency”, thus headlines the publication which affirms that the Spanish club will not be able to save from a violent tightening of the belt if it does not want to be condemned to bankruptcy.
900 million euros of debt including 420 to be repaid in the short term
The numbers are staggering.
According to the daily, Barça would have accumulated at the end of 2020 a total of 900 million euros in debt.
And 420 million must be repaid in the short term, that is to say before the end of the year 2021. The deficit would be "galloping" and "out of control" and the outlook is not encouraging because of the Covid-19 crisis.
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The club counted a few months ago on revenues of 791 million euros for the current season, including 320 related to the stadium (ticket office, museum, income from shops and services).
But this projection was carried out on the basis of a 25% filling capacity of Camp Nou from December, then 100% from February.
However, the team is still playing behind closed doors and there is currently no question of the public returning to the stadiums for several weeks.
A bonus of 39 million euros at the root of the crisis with Lionel Messi last summer
Lionel Messi at the heart of Barça's financial crisis.
Despite a net increase in turnover in recent years, the management of the club could not control the inflation of transfer prices and especially the uncontrolled rise in salaries.
These now constitute 355 million euros of expenditure per year, a record in the world of football.
A line which was also at the root of the conflict between Lionel Messi and his management last summer when the n ° 10 threatened to leave.
La Vanguardia
reveal that in March 2020, the club had once again postponed the payment of a bonus of 39 million euros to its Argentine star, in accordance with an agreement reached in 2017 on the occasion of the renewal of the contract of the 'attacker.
La Pulga ended up banging their fists on the table to get their due, triggering a crisis at the top of management and forcing Josep Maria Bartomeu to step down in October.
His successor will inherit an equally explosive situation at the end of the month.
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