FCBARCELONA.CAT

10.07.2008 21:10

Laporta: "We need to recover institutional calm"

www.fcbarcelona.cat

President Joan Laporta has made a call for "institutional calm" in order to maintain the club’s sporting plans intact. He also said that his continuity in charge of the club will be subjected to decision of the next Assembly.

President Joan Laporta spoke to the media on Tuesday after eight members of his board had resigned at a board meeting. The following is a translation of the full speech given to the press by the president today:

“On Sunday I spoke after the vote to evaluate the results of the vote of no confidence and to announce that, for reasons of responsibility and club stability, we intended to stay in charge of the club.

Today we have held a board meeting at which there was much debate and utmost respect for each of the board members’ individual positions.

Finally, eight members have decided to resign from their positions on the board. I would like to use this moment to thank them for all they have done for the good of FC Barcelona. It has been a pleasure to work with them.

At the appropriate time we will fill the vacancies they have left and today we have named Josep Cubells as the new secretary of the Board.

I would like you to know that we have made every effort to maintain cohesion among the Board, but it was not possible due to the different criteria with respect to what actions we should take following the vote of no confidence.

We consider it necessary for us to continue in charge of the club for the reasons of coherency that we have always manifested. This is a key moment of the season and we need to maintain as much stability as possible. We have to recover the institutional calm, above all to maintain the plans that have been made and especially to be able to efficiently manage the professional squads.

Meanwhile, although we have come through the vote of no confidence, we have received a penalty vote. Therefore, given the atmosphere among Barça fans, I have made a decision, shared with the members of the Board of Directors, to be advised at the next General Assembly of Delegates, the club’s supreme governing body, on my continuity as president.

I would like to end this announcement with a positive message for all members: the Club is being managed well, it has a Board of Directors to govern it and a team of executives and employees that have the capacity to apply the Club model that we have always defended”.