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Joan Laporta i Estruch (2003-)

Joan Laporta, a Club member since 17th August 1974, is the current president of FC Barcelona. He took office on 15th June 2003 and was re-elected for another term in the summer of 2006.

Born in Barcelona on 29th June 1962, Joan Laporta graduated in law from the University of Barcelona and is a member of the Barcelona College of Lawyers and the Board of Trustees and the Executive Commission of the Lluch Foundation. He holds a Masters degree in Company and Tax Law from the Institut d'Estudis Superiors Abat Oliba in Barcelona and a Diploma in Mercantile Law from the Barcelona College of Lawyers.

Laporta is a founding partner of the law firm LAPORTA & ARBÓS, Advocats Associats, and a contributing lecturer in Property law at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Barcelona. He is also a personal consultant to the Japanese Consol in Barcelona.

Elected and re-elected president

Joan Laporta became president of FC Barcelona after a clear and convincing victory in the elections held on 15th June 2003, obtaining 27,138 votes (52.57%), ahead of Lluís Bassat (16,412 votes), Jordi Majó (2,490), Josep Martínez-Rovira (2,388), Josep Maria Minguella (1,867) and Jaume Llauradó (987). Those elections are remembered for the high turnout, 53.79%, the highest in the history of the Club.

In the summer of 2006, Joan Laporta was re-elected unopposed after being the only candidate to collect the minimum of 1,804 signatures required to stand for election (he presented 8,994). After a 33-day interregnum, when the Club was in the hands of the Management Commission headed by Xavier Sala i Martín, up to then the president of the Economic Commission, Joan Laporta was once again declared president of FC Barcelona, coinciding with the 41st Joan Gamper Trophy match on 22nd August 2006.

Leadership in all areas

Under Joan Laporta, the Club has strengthened its traditional values of pride in its Catalan heritage, public spiritedness and universality. The president has encouraged the Club to have an exemplary record in matters such as the fight against violence in football stadiums, peace, solidarity, democracy and individual and collective freedoms. With the “Zero Tolerance” policy, the Board has succeeded in eradicating violent behaviour in the Camp Nou, in an initiative applauded unanimously throughout the footballing world. At the same time, Club membership has increased spectacularly during Joan Laporta’s presidency, from 106,135 members in 2003 to 163,763 in 2009 (30th June).

Now, as president of the biggest multi-sports club in the world, Joan Laporta is leading the challenge to project Barça’s social, humanitarian and charitable commitment around the world via the Club’s Foundation. With the consolidation of a self-financing and sustainable operating model, and after achieving economic and sporting stability for the Club, innovative formulas have been sought to make FC Barcelona 'More than a Club' around the world, an objective that has started to take shape with the signing of various agreements with UNICEF, UNESCO and UNHCR.

As president of one of the most important football clubs on the continent, Joan Laporta has also represented and led many of the clubs’ demands on a European level. He’s a member of the FIFA Finance Task Force “For the good of the game”, of the UEFA European Professional Football Strategy Board, of the “Club Ownership and club licensing” working group, president of the FIFA Working Group for Competitions and vice-president of the ECA (European Clubs Association). Among other things, the Barça president has succeeded in persuading the national associations to compensate clubs when they cede players to the national teams.

Joan Laporta has also led projects to increase the future assets of the Club. The agreement with the Barcelona City Council in July 2009 opened the door to a substantial transformation of the Club’s facilities and the surrounding area of the Les Corts district of Barcelona. The profits generated by this urban reclassification will be dedicated in their entirety to the remodelling and enlargement of the Camp Nou, based on a proposal by Foster + Partners, and the construction of a new Palau Blaugrana. In addition, the Barça Parc project in Viladecans, focussed on sport, leisure and the values of sport, nature, and social activities, is a space where Club members will enjoy privileged access.

During Joan Laporta’s term of office, the Club has returned to the elite of European football. After a first season to consolidate a completely new project, the next two seasons confirmed the validity of the decisions taken with two league championships (2004/05 and 2005/06) and a European Cup in May 2006 in Paris. Then, after a two-season title drought, FC Barcelona recovered the European crown on 27th May 2009 in Rome, winning the third Champions League title in the Club’s history. This title culminated an unforgettable and historic season, in which the Club won the treble of Cup, League and Champions League.