Interview with Laporta on Rac1.
The end of the club's darkest period.
"We have a budget that, if it is met, will give us a profit. We have reduced the debt, we have had a BML that fractures three times what it did before we arrived, we have reduced the sporting wage bill by 172 million. The sporting wage bill was 98 per cent and now it is 57 per cent. To generate fair play, we needed the levers and now we will have more for our work.
Barça Studios Lever
"We need new income, we need new sponsors, the sale of players also helps. The sale would give us 'fair play'. Líbero had a good track record, it was listed in Frankfurt, it worked normally, and the group of this company paid 20 million of the 60 million and there were 40 million left, which they didn't pay when it was due. We gave them a margin until the end of the year, they have not complied and we have sued them. But if we work as we have done, we will still have a surplus".
"Reducing expenses by 22% is not easy, nor is reducing the wage bill".
Breaking up with Nike.
"We have a relationship that is not advisable. They haven't supplied us with material, they haven't delivered on schedule, and the market is paying us double Nike's. Puma? I can't name names. There are interpretations about how the contract is broken (until 2028). With Nike we have been with them for more than 20 years and in difficult times they have not come forward. When we have bared our teeth saying that the market offered us more, yes they have made an effort. But it is not enough. We want to find the best solution. There are three options: to stay with Nike, to accept what the market offers us, which would pay us much more, and there is the option of doing it ourselves through BLM. In terms of profitability, creating Barça's own brand is not out of the question, but there are safer options such as those paid by the market".
"The limitations set by Nike are not acceptable. BLM is working in this sense, with absolute respect for Nike".
Espai Barca
"What El Periódico is doing is shameful, and they are doing it from the top. They are creating terror in a project that is the most important in Barça's history, with all the institutions behind it. We have gone through five work inspections, and what they have found are only two incidents. What they're doing is appalling. The headline is sensationalist, and if you look inside, Barça is complying with the regulations and now we want to have more workers to go faster. The issue is not about sports journalism, I am referring that it comes from a direction, because of the political issue. El Periódico is Prensa Ibérica, which is hiring journalists from El Mundo. We decided on a Turkish company, which even Goldman Sachs told me they were very reliable. If we didn't accept the conditions of the Spanish companies, that's up to them. I don't know if they are now behind El Periódico, but I have to say that the positioning of El Mundo is very good.
