This Tuesday, Joan Laporta held a long press conference. The president of FC Barcelona mentioned all the burning issues of the moment while making a few updates. Selected pieces.
One hour and forty minutes. This Tuesday, Joan Laporta appeared in front of the media for an endless press conference lasting 1h40. The president of FC Barcelona obviously wanted to explain himself after the terrible fiasco last Thursday at Camp Nou. Indeed, 30,000 Eintracht Frankfurt supporters had managed to obtain tickets to attend the quarter-final second leg of the Europa League against the Culés. A meeting that the Blaugranas, therefore eliminated from the C3, lost 3 to 2. They also lost the battle for the stands against the Germans who came in force.
What Xavi regrets, who wanted to have an explanation since UEFA only allows 5,000 opposing fans to be present outside. In the process, Joan Laporta stepped up to the plate: “This will never happen again. We have information about what happened. It is outrageous and shameful. We will take measures and we will explain them”. After conducting an investigation, Barça leaders wanted to be transparent on Tuesday. Arrived at noon, the Blaugrana president began by apologizing to the club’s supporters, annoyed by this incident, before recalling that he was counting on them for the end of the season.
The Numbers of Shame
Then, the Camp Nou residents unveiled the “figures of shame” as indicated Sport. In detail, 79,468 were present for the Barça-Eintracht Frankfurt match. There were 34,435 tickets sold by the club, including 5,000 for opposing fans, 37,746 seats dedicated to subscribers, 1,290 VIP entries, 2,425 invitations and 3,572 tickets sold by tour operators who organize operations with tourists. But Barca had problems as many tickets were sold on the web to German supporters. The club’s website was saturated and 23,427 tickets were sold.
Laporta, who insisted on recalling that the system put in place dated from the previous management, specified: “more than 27,201 purchase requests were received from Germany. Compared to regular ticket sales, the system was overwhelmed. Measures will be taken to ensure that this does not happen again. We have detected a tour operator who has committed an illegal practice and we will terminate their contract.” The Blaugrana boss then gave an update on the new measures put in place to avoid a new fiasco.
Laporta defends Barca
“The club is not guilty of what happened, but ultimately more responsible. I insist: we did not sell tickets to German supporters. We are responsible and we will take action. We can announce that, in high-risk matches, tickets will be digital and nominative (…) We will have to be stricter. This is why we are going to create a working group which will bring together those responsible for Ticketing and Security to take the appropriate decisions and establish consensual measures..
The president then assured that he had explained himself to the players and the staff. He also took the opportunity to discuss the continuation and end of the season after his team’s defeat against Cadiz. “We faced the home stretch of La Liga very well, with a great result at the Bernabéu, but now we are struggling to win. Xavi looks for solutions. Injuries don’t help us either, like that of Pedri, who was a benchmark. The situation is different from what we expected. Now it’s obvious that we have to fight in these seven finals to get the best possible result. It has become very difficult to win La Liga..
The president kicks in touch for the thorny Piqué case
The Culés could therefore have a white season. The objective is to finish as high as possible and play C1. “We need Barcelona fans more than ever. We have a lot at stake and above all we have to do internal work on what the first team is. Xavi is working there to regain the mentality of playing 3 or 4 games. The coach has the necessary requirement to find this mentality and this motivation of the players, that comes first. Barcelona fans must step up to help the team”. A team in which Gerard Pique is at the heart of a scandal.
Indeed, the defender participated via his company Kosmos in the overhaul of the Spanish Super Cup with the president of the Spanish Federation Luis Rubiales. This poses a huge problem since there is a conflict of interest. Joan Laporta was therefore invited to react to this subject. “Pique has already given his explanations and I have nothing more to say. This is a subject that I do not know. He gave his explanations and I have nothing to say., he blurted out. But the case should not stop there since some like Diego Simeone will ask Pique and the Federation to account.
Finally, Joan Laporta slipped a tackle about the refereeing, which he is obviously not satisfied with after several contentious decisions against his team or in favor of opponents like Real Madrid. “There are situations that we at Barça don’t see well, but I don’t want to talk about this issue. I hope that those responsible for the refereeing will do everything possible to ensure that we find what should be, absolute objectivity, and that very obvious situations do not arise. They cannot continue to occur because they distort competition.. The message got through…
