The board led by Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, ??met yesterday to hold the last meeting of the 2022-2023 season. On the table, various matters of substance. Among them was the guarantee of 6.6 million euros that the board must pay jointly for failure to comply with the spending cut in the 22-23 season. The resignation of former director Jaume Llauradó was also admitted, who first resigned as a member of the Espai Barça commission to focus on the Fundació but who informed the president Joan Laporta at the beginning of June of his intention to definitively leave the board of directors once once the season of the first team football has finished. The former manager participated in the beginning of the meeting to say goodbye to him.
Beyond the approval of these two points, the board also reviewed the club’s accounts in the midst of a wave of cuts to alleviate an excessive salary mass that prevents signing according to the 1-1 rule (for each salary that comes out, one equal can enter) . Said cuts affect the professional sections of the entity except women’s football, the only profitable one. But also to the salaries of the club executives who have been told that it would be convenient for them to make an exemplary effort, just as is happening in many areas of the club. Finally, the state of the works on the Espai Barça and the transfer to the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc were discussed in a meeting that began at 2:00 p.m. in the club’s offices and ended after 6:00 p.m. with the following conclusions and various pending duties.
The board of directors certified at the meeting the presentation of a guarantee of 6.670 million euros jointly for a failure to cut spending, according to LaLiga, of the economic planning plan for the 22-23 season. Before June 30, the entity had to comply with the cuts presented at the time to LaLiga both in men’s, women’s and youth football as well as in the professional sections. Of the 108 million euros budgeted, the entity had to go to 98 million but the club stayed at 104 million due to the departure of the sections that had not been reduced following the established plan.
Within the club they calculate that with the departure of Nikola Mirotic, who was earning around 10 million gross per year, and with the non-renewal of coach Sarunas Jasikevicius, it will now be possible to guarantee that the managers recover their contribution. Even so, the duration of the guarantee is one year and it cannot be released until the last day of the 2023-24 season. With this movement, the club ensures that it can register the renewed players. Not so the already announced Ilkay Gündogan and the signing of Íñigo Martínez, pending officialization.
The entity is working to reduce the wage bill for next season to 532 million euros. 51 of these 532 million correspond to the salaries of players on loan that Xavi does not have and who have a current contract. They are Lenglet, Umtiti and Dest from the first team and Àlex Collado and Gustavo Maia from the subsidiary. Another 91 million of the 532 correspond to the expenses of the sections. Despite the efforts, the club’s structural debt remains around 1,350 million euros. To try to further lighten his salary mass, the intention of the Blaugrana leadership is to reduce the salaries of executives by at least 10 percent. A measure that several voices from the club have requested to set an example and that has been being discussed for some weeks.
Before the meeting, the president Joan Laporta led the visit of the board of directors to the works of the Spotify Camp Nou, one month after the start of the fine-tuning works. The works are being carried out according to the established deadlines. According to the calculations of Barça and Limak, the Turkish firm in charge of the reconstruction, the demolition work on the third tier will progress throughout the summer together with the movement of earth, retaining walls and foundations for the construction of the new stadium.
“No obstacle or unforeseen event is coming up, we are satisfied because the pace of the works is going well. We will have a renovated Camp Nou that will be the best stadium in the whole world”, explained Laporta. At the same time, the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium, the temporary home of Xavi’s Barça at least until November 2024, has also accelerated to adapt the Olympic stadium to the needs of the club and the requirements requested by LaLiga. Work began on the pitch in December, changing the drainage, irrigation and water treatment system. The assembly of the commentary stands and the installation of the stadium access turnstiles are currently being completed.
