Compliance Statement 'Intermediation Sr Guillem Laporta'

Following the publication on November 30, 2022 of the article "Laporta's son's player intermediary firm participates in Barça signings,” the Compliance Area opens an investigation to verify whether the facts may constitute a breach of the Club's internal regulations and current legislation on conflict of interest and self contracting, expressly prohibited in article 147 of Decree 58/2010, of May 4, of the Sports Organizations of Catalonia, which sets forth that directors cannot “contract through their companies, or on behalf of any third party, with the sports entity itself, where their functions as directors are carried out. This prohibition of self contracting applies to the companies of their spouses, people linked with a similar relationship, and their descendants or ascendants.”

Actions carried out

The Compliance Area of FC Barcelona, in accordance with that which is established in its internal protocols and faced with the facts publicly reported by the aforementioned media, has initiated several actions to verify the facts.

Within the framework of the actions carried out, a series of interviews have been conducted both with the people affected and with other members of the Club's Football and Finance areas. From the meetings held it has been established that in no case did Mr. Guillem Laporta participate as an intermediary for transfers or loans related to the Alonso-Lenglet-Dest transactions (or any others). Thus, the Director of Football, Mr. Mateu Alemany, manifests that Mr. Guillem Laporta has never participated in any meetings or negotiations related to the Alonso-Lenglet-Dest transactions, or related to any other, and that the managers and workers of the Area are fully aware of the Club's internal regulations, as well as in-force legislation regarding matters of conflict of interest and self contracting.

Moreover, specific steps have been taken by the Compliance Area to verify whether there has been any link between the Club and Top Level Football 77 SL. As a result of these steps, it has been confirmed that there has never been any payment made to the aforementioned company, nor does any record of a relationship between the Club and Top Level Football 77 SL exist within FC Barcelona’s systems, meaning that no transaction has been carried out between the Club and this company.

Thus, following the interviews with the President, Mr. Joan Laporta, and Mr. Guillem Laporta, it can be confirmed that there is complete certainty by both that Mr. Guillem Laporta cannot participate in any professional transactions with Club players, respecting the FC Barcelona Statutes, the Code of Ethics, and all other internal regulations and current legislation.

Finally, in relation to Raúl Verdú, an intermediary related to Mr. Guillem Laporta in the article in question, they concur that:

- Both carry out their profession as intermediaries in the world of football as independent contractors, separately from each other, and that they both carry out the work offered by the market.

- There is no transaction and, therefore, no direct or indirect charges that, from the Club and/or any player linked to FC Barcelona, has resulted in a financial gain for Mr. Guillem Laporta, or for Top Level Football 77 SL, or for Mr. Raul Verdú.

- That the company Top Level Football 77 SL was set up few months ago by Mr. Guillem Laporta and Mr. Raúl Verdú in anticipation of the possibility that they would occasionally have to provide their services jointly, a fact that has yet to occur, because the company is fully inactive, as stated by them and confirmed in the Mercantile Registry.

- That the FC Barcelona Under-16 A player is being exclusively represented by Raul Verdú, with Mr. Verdú being a personal friend of the player's father, who is also an ex-football player.

Conclusion

The Compliance Area thus concludes that, with the information obtained as of today, it has not been able to confirm any breach of the internal regulations of Futbol Club Barcelona or in-force legislation on incompatibilities , conflicts of interest, and self contracting by Club Directors.

Sergi Atienza i Sierra
Head of Compliance, Futbol Club Barcelona