Josep Maria Bartomeu: “We are in an enviable situation”

Josep Maria Bartomeu: “We are in an enviable situation”

FC Barcelona president presents his annual review of a 2015/16 season in which the football team overcame a number of difficulties to win the league and cup double

The 2015/16 season officially ended on June 30 and Josep Maria Bartomeu presented his annual review on Thursday. “The football team has won four major trophies and we celebrated the seventh double in club history” he was proud to say. “The handball and roller hockey teams got great results too. But basketball and futsal were a little disappointing”.

The FC Barcelona president also commented that in a recent survey of the members' opinion, the current board was scored at 7.8 out of 10, just 0.2 lower than the mark given in December. “We’re in an enviable position” he beamed.

Not an easy ride

The 2015/16 season was also one of mourning of the losses of former player and manager Johan Cruyff as well as stadium announcer Manel Vich: “We are where we are thanks to Johan and we all miss Manel” said Bartomeu, going on to comment that “this has not been an easy season. We had the FIFA sanction to deal with, which made things especially difficult for the youth teams. There was also the issue with the estelada flags and the Neymar Case".

Bartomeu also discussed the progress made by the Board since the elections of last July. He mentioned that good work has been done regarding the 2016-2021 Strategic Plan, which “is making Barça bigger, more global and more international through such projects as Masia 360, FCB Universitas, the Foundation and yet more FCBEscola soccer schools.

Optimistic outlook

In financial terms, the best news is the excellent new deal with Nike: "This season we have set a new record income of almost 670 million euros, and we have reduced the debt by a further 40 million.”

The Espai Barça is by far the standout project in terms of the club’s assets. “It is a project between the club and the city” said Bartomeu. “If we have strong assets then this leaves the members in a strong position to decide what they want to do. The project is going to schedule.”

Sporting matters were also on the agenda: “We are very pleased with the football team and their coach. We have a great squad and this year we will not have to worry about the FIFA sanction. Even with that difficulty, we still won four titles and our seventh double, and that was a wonderful achievement.”

Força Barça
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