"They wanted to kill Barcelona, but we never gave up"

The last month has been a constant battle for FC Barcelona. For the agreement with Nike, to make progress on the stadium works, to be able to register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor... and after the various controversies that have arisen, Joan Laporta wanted to appear before the media to give his version of all these events. This is everything the president of the Catalan club chief had to say:

The club is back to 1:1 rule
"The first fact is that we are back to 1:1 and this allows us to sign and we can register Olmo and Victor. Barcelona is no longer controlled by La Liga. To get to 1:1, we have signed a contract with Nike, the best, and other partners, such as Spotify, and this denies that we have a bad image. While we are no longer intervened by La Liga, we are building a new stadium. Which is new, it's not a refurbishment, it's not putting paint on the stands. It's a new stadium that we will return to as soon as possible".

Importance of the stadium
"The Spotify Camp Nou is the key revenue stream for the coming years. But in the meantime we enjoy a competitive team with talented home-grown players, with a united squad and a great coach in Hansi Flick. They have a great physical preparation, I highlight Julio Tous and Pepe Conde, and Deco. Together they do a great job that will help us win the Super Cup".

Defending his tenure
"In March it will be four years since the members gave us their support. We are based on four pillars: increasing income, reducing costs without losing competitiveness, not putting the associative ownership model at risk and that the economic recovery did not mean that the members had to put money in. We have completed this. We have done it without improvising or with the president's idea or with external aid. We have done it because we have worked well from the club, from the Board, from the club's workers. We have consolidated and followed a detailed strategic plan that has been evaluated weekly by the executives. It has also been completed thanks to the talent, knowledge, courage, audacity... by the executives of the club, who do an extraordinary job. We have never given up. We all love Barca".

Anti-Barça campaign
"A large part of the success of fulfilling the pillars is because the majority of the members understood that it was about saving Barca from a complicated situation and attacks coming from land, sea and air, from outside and also from within. We know what Barcelona represents. Nothing that has happened in recent weeks has surprised us, if you go back through history you expect these reactions. When you emerge, different actors, with their corresponding media support, impose an ignominious narrative, which is repeated. We all know each other by now. But they didn't get away with it. They have not got away with it because we have done our job. They wanted to kill us, but we never gave up. We got what we wanted: the registration of Olmo and Victor and a return to the 1:1 rule. The members knew it was an attack on the crest.