Camp Nou hosts debate between candidates

The Camp Nou was the venue on Tuesday evening for a debate between the four candidates for the presidency of FC Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu, Joan Laporta, Agustí Benedito and Toni Freixa, who presented and discussed their proposals for the future of the club.

Broadcast live in TV3 and Catalunya Radio, and moderated by Bernat Soler, the two-hour debate was divided into four main blocks: review of the previous mandate, sporting matters, finance and assets, and the social area (members and supporters).

The elections to choose the new president of FC Barcelona take place this Saturday 18 July. This is the only debate in which all four candidates have appeared together.

Post-debate comments:

Josep Maria Bartomeu

“I believe that the members have received many projects and ideas, they have been able to openly debate the Barça of today and in the future.”

“All the members should come to vote on Saturday and from what they have seen today they should be more than clear about who it would be best to vote for.”

“It is important for us to present the image of a democratic club, the image of a club in which all members are involved. There is a lot at stake in this election for the next six years, and Barça has to continue to be the number one sports club in the world.”

Joan Laporta

“I have been able to present my proposal in depth and it has been my pleasure to do so.”

“The proposal is that Barça is more than a club, Cruyff, Masia, Unicef, a multi-sports club and a professional organisation, and moreover with a strong president, who takes decisions, who defends the interest of Barça wherever and whenever needed, and who does so with conviction, arguments and respect.”

“If the trend, as I have been told, continues to change, then my main mission will be to seek happiness for all Barça supporters.”

Agustí Benedito

“I am happy with how the debate has gone. Both on a personal level and from what other members have said. I don’t know what the supporters hoped for, but I believe that we have lived up to expectations.”

“Each of us has acted as expected. Each of us has expressed ourselves as we are.”

“It has been a pretty frank debate, we’ve been able to talk about what we wanted to talk about and I think it’s been interesting.”

Toni Freixa

“We are highly satisfied with the way the debate went and to have been able to make constructive proposals. We have worked hard on the things that the club needs for the future. The whole campaign has consisted of that.”

“We have finally been able to reach all of the members, something we had not been able to do until now. We have become an alternative and we are very optimistic about the election results.”

“The members are now fully aware of what we represent and what we understand that Barça should be.”