Truculent president of FC Barcelona from 2003 to 2010, Joan Laporta has neither the physique nor the swaying gait of alley cats, which does not prevent him, like them, from always landing on his feet. Returning to the helm of the Catalan club in 2021, it had largely focused its electoral campaign on its ability to be able to keep Messi in the Barcelona fold.
But once elected, on the eve of the Champions League return match against PSG completed in a Mbappesque rouste, the one whom the local press nicknamed at the time the “Barcelona Kennedy”, square face and ultra-bright smile, will not be able to keep his promise, trapped in the harsh economic reality of a club on the verge of bankruptcy. Three years later, when it was time to return to Paris in the quarter-final second leg of C1, Messi had left but he was still there, even more wrapped up.
Others in his place would never have recovered from such a failure, but the ways of Joan Laporta are impenetrable. “He has this aura of a guru that allowed him, by some miracle, to pass through the drops. He’s the only person in the world who can lose Messi and come out unscathed, I can’t explain it,” confides Roger Vinton, author of the essay. El Barça before the segle crisis (“Barça facing the crisis of the century”). Former daily Barça follower for the newspaper The TeamFlorent Torchut has some ideas to put on the table to understand this unexplained phenomenon.
“He has a form of good nature which means that, overall, he is very endearing to people. I met him in 2021 at his campaign headquarters, we arrived, there was a table football at the entrance, he got behind it and he said to me ”come on, let’s have a little match” ‘. He makes me think of those old-school politicians, Chirac, Tapie, who have this side that is very close to the people, who know how to put you at ease, always smiling, with the chatter that goes with it. He’s a smart guy, he knows how to get you in his pocket,” says our colleague.
An outstanding political animal
If his short stint in politics ended in failure, in 2010, after handing over the presidency of Barça to Sandro Rosell, this former lawyer has mastered all the codes of the industry. A great communicator, big mouth and willingly provocative, Laporta had fun during his last campaign deploying an electoral banner fifty meters high on the facade of a building in Madrid, very close to the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. We saw him there, all smiles, accompanied by this wonderful message to Madrid supporters: “Looking forward to seeing you again”.
His return to grace was beyond doubt at the time. Because who better than Laporta to restore Barça to its former greatness, he who had already achieved this feat in 2003, by making FCB a winning machine under Rijkaard, first, then Guardiola, while the club put one foot in front of the other more under the presidency, “disastrous” according to Vinton, of Gaspar.
“It was a situation similar to what happened in 2003, with Socios very angry against the leaders. Bartomeu had a catastrophic mandate, even worse I think than Gaspar’s, and anger and despair were at their peak, describes Vinton. As is often the case in this case, we rely on what has worked in the past, on what has allowed the club’s return to the forefront. »
A divisive character who does not leave one indifferent
It also allowed people to regain a little of their lost pride, which is no small thing when you pride yourself on supporting “mes que un club” (“more than a club”). Florent Torchut: “The socios have always felt a little special. And they like this Don Quixote side that Laporta can sometimes have. He defends the interests of the club tooth and nail, he highlights Catalanity. They feel proud to have a man like that who defends and represents them. » Watchdog of the club, he never hesitates to do the dirty work and to bite the calves of those who attack his Barça, even if it means adding to the long list of his enemies a little more every day.
“ He has such a strong, radical character that it is very divisive. With him, it’s all or nothing, you love him or you hate him, Vinton smiles. He absolutely does not try to make himself look good to everyone, he is aware that his character and his methods cannot please everyone and he copes with this perfectly. » »
This was the case yesterday when Leonardo and PSG dared to openly flirt with Leo Messi, it is still the case today when it comes to trashing Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, “the one who governs UEFA”. Ditto in the Negreira affair, this arbitration scandal involving Barça and in which he was indicted, where he does not hesitate to cry conspiracy against a Liga led by the all-powerful Real Madrid of godfather Florentino Perez.
“Even if he does not know all the ins and outs of the Negreira affair, he is offensive at all costs, sometimes even if it means showing bad faith,” agrees our colleague from France Football. “There are two types of people: those who want to master their subject 100% before opening it, and there are others who, like Laporta, go ahead and improvise in the moment,” analyzes Roger Vinton. He thinks that form takes precedence over substance and that, whatever happens, through his cheekiness and his ease, he will end up winning his case. »
“What he wants is for people to believe him”
This is what happened in the last election. Aware that you don’t convince people by promising them blood, tears and dog food, Laporta chooses the carpet merchant option. “He’s a dream seller,” says the Catalan author specializing in Barça. Instead of giving a speech of reason, of explaining to the members that the club was heading for bankruptcy and that they were going to have to tighten their belts, he preferred to talk about the recruitment of Haaland! Reality matters little to him. What he wants is for people to believe, to have faith in the future and in what he says. »
Which does not prevent him from being aware of the difficulties the club is going through. He simply overcomes them in his own way. For example, by selling certain club assets such as Barca Studios, the subsidiary responsible for managing the club’s audiovisual productions and digital business. “On a financial level he tinkered a bit but they remain short or medium-term solutions, it’s a double-edged sword. The goal was to immediately remain competitive in the post-Messi era, explains Torchut. He ensured that this was the case, sportingly and economically. In terms of results it works, but we know that the club is still in debt and that it still has a sword of Damocles hanging over its head. »
This short-term policy does not please everyone. This is the case of Toni Freire, president of penyas of FC Barcelona around the world: “His debt management is not good in my opinion. I don’t think selling the assets is the best solution. On an economic level, I am not convinced by the levers chosen. And on an institutional level, I am once again seeing resignations of important people on the board of directors, which is very worrying. »
A Laporta without any safeguards
This is also the other side of the coin of the Laporta bulldozer. His volcanic character and this tendency to want to control everything gradually isolated him. As in 2005, during the split with Sandro Rosell, which had already generated at the time a wave of departures detrimental to the stability of the club.
“The best Laporta is the one who knew how to surround himself with competent people by letting everyone work in their department. As soon as this stopped, institutional and social decline began, regrets Toni Freire. The problem is that Laporta has a lot of ego and he doesn’t like to be contradicted. » “At the time, these people managed to control his excesses and set some limits for him,” confirms Vinton. But these people are no longer there today, he is alone in the exercise of power and he is gradually becoming a caricature of himself. »
“It’s no longer the same Laporta. Physically, already. He gained a little weight. It is no longer this young dynamic lawyer who was at the head of the great Barça. The club has lost its splendor, too, a little, agrees our colleague from France Foot and author of the book King Leo. He took on the bottle but he also looked a little old. So yes, he can sometimes fall a little into caricature, he sometimes goes a little too far, but that’s part of the character. »And if Barça qualifies for the semi-finals on Tuesday evening, we can still expect a great show from this limitless president.