07.10.2010 12:11

Intense first 100 days

www.fcbarcelona.cat

Key decisions in all areas of the club have been taken during the first 100 days of President Sandro Rosell and his board’s first 100 days at the helm, as they aim to steer the club in a new direction, backed by their massive electoral mandate.

On the economic front and in the sporting area, immediate decisions were taken, conditioned by the delicate financial situation and the urgent need to finalise the squad as soon as possible in the middle of the summer transfer market. The first 100 days of the new board’s reign will be completed this Friday and alongside these decisions, action has also been taken in the social area to give members and supporters clubs more influence, as well as in the institutional area. Austerity in management and transparency has been present in all these decisions.

Sporting Area

Josep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova’s continued position in charge of the first team was an electoral commitment and was finalised in the first few weeks. A new sporting organagram was also drawn up with two ex-players with a lot of experience of the club, Andoni Zubizarreta and Guillermo Amor, as the public face of a strengthened back room staff, with the professional football area and the club’s youth schemes complementing each other.

Working closely with Pep Guardiola, the new sporting directors finalised the first team squad with five players -Henry, Márquez, Chygrinski, Touré and Ibrahimovic- moving on, and Adriano and Mascherano coming in. The first success for the team came with the victory over Seville in the Spanish Super Cup. The other sporting sections were also strengthened to maintain their great success and the season began with the Lliga Catalana and ACB Supercopa (basketball), the Lliga Pirineus (handball) land the Copa Catalunya (futsal).

Economic Area

Much of the work done in the first 100 days was in the economic area. The short term need was to resolve treasury problems and guarantee the solidity and financial capacity of the club and a syndicated loan for 155 million Euros was duly arranged. The problems found by the Deloitte auditors in last year’s accounts obliged the board to reformulate their conclusions: the 11 million profit presented by the previous board before auditing became a loss of 79 million, which led to a more restrained budget for 2010/11 and a cut in expenditure.

Institutional Area

In the institutional area, the new board wishes to re-establish relations with political, religious and cultural institutions in the country and position themselves within the decision making areas of international football organisations such as UEFA and ECA. The creation of the Barça Cultura area and the incorporation of ex-players Josep Maria Fusté, Migueli and Carles Rexach as board assessors, as well as the commitment to involving the members in the running of the club via their implication in the reform of the statutes are other important actions taken by the board.

The Nou Camp again enjoyed a vibrant celebration of the Catalan National Day – 11th September – which showed the club’s commitment to the Catalan nation. The agreement with USAP Perpignan was also part of the same commitment.

Social Area

Probably the area where the board have made most effort during their first 100 days has been in the Social Area. Despite the closeness of the Joan Gamper Trophy, the Congrés de Penyes, proved a great success and with the new Oficina d'Atenció al Penyista (OAP) at the Nou Camp, the supporters clubs took a further step forward.

In order to ensure the members’ participation, the Assembly was moved from August to 16th October, coinciding with the visit of Valencia and the commitment to bring games forward to as early a time as possible has seen an increase in crowds for matches so far this season, none of which have kicked off at 22.00.

Click HERE to see the actions taken in the first 100 days.