Maria Teixidor (Barcelona, ??1975) became part of the FC Barcelona board of directors in 2015 and, five years later, resigned along with other board members due to discrepancies with Josep Maria Bartomeu’s way of acting. Teixidor does not agree with those who despise the heritage received by Joan Laporta as if it were a whole, ignoring legacies such as women’s football.
Have you tried to preside over the new women’s professional league with no luck…
It has been a hit. We had a very good opportunity to build something with our own perspective, without replicating masculine patterns… My conclusion is that the established power has no intention of sharing spaces yet.
You were a power at Barça. Why did you resign?
We were a few. We did it for some facts that are public, for example for the so-called ‘Barçagate’. The effects of the pandemic also led us to a catastrophic situation if drastic measures were not taken that those of us who were part of the economic and legal area saw as essential.
Was Barçagate the trigger?
It was a perfect storm. As a manager you are co-responsible for collective decisions, but there are things that you cannot assume because they make you a co-participant. At that time I chaired the control and transparency commission. The fact that they broke the rules that we ourselves had imposed made our continuity unaffordable.
Payments to the company I3Ventures were split…
That made them undetectable. They were off our radar when they should have gone through the board when they exceeded one million euros.
Didn’t they ever suspect?
We didn’t know anything, we were very negatively surprised.
What did Bartomeu tell them?
His explanations did not convince us. We forced for an external audit and the investigation led us to resign. Everything went very fast. We found out in February, in March we confined ourselves and in April we resigned.
One of Joan Laporta’s main phrases is that the inheritance they left him has been terrible.
Due to player contracts, inheritance is complicated, we are not going to deny it, but the phrase is excessive. Heritage is global, and women’s Barça is never counted there, nor is it said that if the famous levers are activated today it is thanks to the heritage generated by our board.
What do you mean?
BLM and Barça Studios are projects that make it possible to take advantage of commercial opportunities with direct merchandising management. Also with our meeting, the maximum historical value of income was reached. That’s why the Barça brand still has the strength to find good sponsors, investors, partners… we have to be more careful. Not everything can serve as an excuse. And the pandemic…
Wasn’t there a lack of a mattress for possible unforeseen events?
It was an unexpected powder keg, it broke economic dynamics around the world. Ignoring that context to point to a single person as bad for Barça is excessive.
Why did Madrid recover without so many problems?
Its governance, with Florentino Pérez at the helm, is consolidated and stable for years. It has a professional team of managers that has hardly changed. They took advantage of the pandemic to restore the Bernabeu. They know how to take advantage of their advantages.
Is the solution the Super League?
The European Court can shed a lot of light shortly. It will open new scenarios. Small clubs must continue to have oxygen but it is obvious that new formulas must be found. But you can’t say goodbye just like that. The announcement was very abrupt, without taking into account all the actors involved, including UEFA.
What do you think about the sale of part of the television rights?
In the short term it will be positive if it helps in a time of difficulty. But a deal you close on the last day gives you a weaker position. I think Sixth Street has done a good business. If the benefits per season for television rights range between 250 and 300 million and you calculate 10 percent for 25 years… You are mortgaging yourself. You are selling equity assets, income that you lose over time. You have to be more creative.
There is debate about whether the club is in danger of losing its ownership model…
We have a unique model, all partners care about it and we don’t want to give up. In order not to lose it, you have to be especially careful with management. Competing against public limited companies and state-owned teams is very complex, but the club must be provided with mechanisms that prevent conversion to another model. In this sense, the loss of professionalism in the club worries me.
Barça, without general manager…
It doesn’t seem right to me in the 21st century. The world of sport has changed a lot. We must be careful.
“The club can be run like a family business”…
That does not fit with what I am exposing. Barça does not belong to any family, it has 150,000 members. And in this extended family we must be able to recognize each other. The best guarantee is that this ‘company’ is in professional hands.
Management not convinced?
He became a flag in the elections of an executive team and five months later he was struck down. It was hard for me to understand.
Spotify must like it…
It is a current company, a good partner. There is a joint field to explore for the two brands, but I don’t know the details because they weren’t given to us.
When a company of this size asks for confidentiality, it must be difficult to disagree…
When you are negotiating it is logical, but when you come to the assembly, with everything closed, you have to provide more information to be able to assess it. Transparency was lacking.
Is it avoidable to pay commissions?
Barça must equip itself with professional teams that are well enough connected to the world so as not to have to depend on commission agents.
Three players and three players appear on the new façade of the Spotify Camp Nou…
I think it’s wonderful. And I congratulate the club for the two attendance records, the bet is firm.
Do you miss more recognition of your previous work with women’s football?
Barça must be above personalities and it is good for the club to recognize that the right decisions are also made at all stages. It is basic to draw a common thread of our history and ignoring obvious facts is absurd. The momentum is taken in 2015 with the meeting of Bartomeu.
Families, isms, trenches…
We have to overcome this war of factions in which we are installed, move to a collaborative scenario. The opposite harms the club. A new team comes in and deletes everything. I prefer generosity, adding… the club needs continuity. The world is changing. I believe a lot in a different way of leading, there is talk of the feminization of management…
Would Messi have stayed with this new management style?
(Laughter). Messi would have stayed with an honest speech of the moment, accompanied by a realistic project for the future. The situation called for ingenious formulas. His departure, like so many other Catalans, I didn’t like.
With you, salaries skyrocketed. There was a lot of income but little profit…
It is evidence. We discussed it internally more than once. When you have a generation of footballers as significant as that one, it is difficult to guess the moment of transition. It was not done well but it was not easy. The pandemic, in addition, has now changed our perspective. At that time the risk was lower.
And it was very expensive…
Very good players may not fit here because of the specific way of playing. It happened with Coutinho. We were all excited about signing him and…
