Sandro Rosell claims his passage through the presidency of the Barça and that of his successor, Josep Maria Bartomeu. He claims that his mistake was not explaining the management to him. He denies having made illegal arrangements for a liver transplant for Eric Abidal.
If he ends up being a candidate for mayor, the assets that he can present to his potential voters are his experience as a manager in his companies and at Barça.
Correct.
How do you think your management is seen at Barça?
It is not seen, because I did not put it in vision. I did nothing to explain it. But, with all the humility with which I can say what I will say now, my four years as president of Barça are the best in first team titles, in section titles, in money earned, in assets created, in social function. , at the foundation. The best. are data. It is that I have never stopped to explain it, it is the first time that I explain it. The data is what it is. You can say: ‘I really like Rosell, I don’t drink it’. But the objective data of my management are published on the official websites of Barça, audited.
“You can say: ‘I don’t like Rosell, I don’t drink it’. But the objective data of my management is published on the official Barça websites, audited”
And to those who say that you are the president who made Guardiola went away?
Is not true. They have explained it by active and passive Guardiola and the players, that it was a pique between Guardiola and the players. A problem there was in the dressing room.
And why hasn’t he defended his management and that data until now?
Because I dedicate myself to managing. Now, will I explain it now if I run for mayor of Barcelona? Maybe spend 10% of the time explaining it. Because until now I have dedicated myself 100% to managing and 0% to speaking.
“It’s not true (that he forced Guardiola out). Guardiola and the players have explained it actively and passively, that it was a dispute between him and the players. A problem in the locker room”
Have you missed recognition?
No, because I know what I’ve done and I’m very happy. The four years were brutal and the legacy we left behind was brutal.
And the current situation?
I don’t want to get into that. I’m talking about my four years.
Knowing what you know now, would you have been president of Barça?
Yes. It’s an honor.
Are you going to the Camp Nou?
No.
Will he go again?
Yes, one day I will return.
Can pending legal cases become barriers to a candidacy? The open for alleged fiscal fraud.
Consequence of a prospective investigation, something prohibited in a democracy, and since they found nothing, they ended up in the tax issue. The accusation is not true. They wanted to agree but I said no because I know it’s not true. But they put the machinery of the State on me: they also say that I am an organ trafficker.
For the case of Abidal.
I accept that they tell me anything for being an entrepreneur. But organ trafficker?: Do I have to come to an agreement with the Hospital Clínic?
“I accept that they tell me anything for being a businessman. But an organ trafficker? I met Abidal’s cousin the day after the operation. He was in the bed next to Abidal’s”
You are indicted for that. It is because of that conversation (with former director Juanjo Castillo), “we have given him a liver.”
Yes, have you heard the conversation? If I don’t say anything.
Did Barça give money to Abidal’s cousin?
No way. I met Abidal’s cousin the day after the operation. I go in and greet him because he is in the bed next to Abidal’s.
And then there’s the case Neymar.
That is filed by Judge De la Mata and coincidentally, coinciding with the accusation by Judge Lamela, someone forces the case to be reopened against the opinion of De la Mata, who dedicates 230 of a 250-page report to saying that we are innocent and in the last one he affirms that he reopens the oral trial because they force him.
Do you think that these cases can harm your candidacy?
On the contrary.
“Our management was based on spending control. Bartomeu managed more based on the increase in income. But there is a thing called a pandemic, and the 1,000 income went to 650”
Going back to the balance of your presidency, you say that your inheritance was very good. What happened since his departure so that Barça’s situation is what it is?
A football club like Barça requires three very important people to manage it: the president, who is responsible for saying no, who has to set limits; the general manager, who is the one who has to manage income and expenses, to get a margin, and the sports director, who must invest that margin in the field. That out of every 10 decisions you can make two mistakes. But if he commits eight, you sink the club. Ten out of ten won’t work for you. In my time, the president was me, the general manager, Antoni Rossich, and the sporting director, Andoni Zubizarreta. When there were elections and the partner voted for Josep Maria Bartomeu, he decided to change management. Ours, from 2010 to 2014, was based on spending control. I’m sick of controlling spending. Bartomeu made a management more based on the increase in income. And he made almost a billion. And that machinery supports the increase in spending. But there is something called a pandemic, and the 1,000 went to 650 million, below spending. This is the fact. That said, from 2010 to 2014 there were the best four years in the history of Barça. From 2010 to 2020, including the pandemic, there are the best 10 years in the history of Barça in titles, in money, in everything. And on the other hand, if you ask, people say no, that neither Rosell nor Bartomeu were the best.
It is the feeling that has remained.
Because others are only dedicated to communicating and we only manage. And that’s the difference.
