What Barca president Laporta said on Tuesday – and what it means: Olmo, Raphinha’s comments and Qatari cash

By premiernews On Jan 15, 2025

“They didn’t succeed. They wanted to kill us off.”

That was how Joan Laporta began his much-anticipated press conference after a very dramatic festive period in which he battled to both re-register two players and remain president of Barcelona.

“But we worked hard,” he continued. “We never gave up until we got what we wanted: The 1:1 rule and, above all, to register Pau Victor and Dani Olmo. They wanted to destabilise us, to stain the shield, and our shield is not stained.

“Could anyone really believe that the president of FC Barcelona, that I could resign because of a decision by La Liga and the RFEF (Spain’s football federation)? I am very disappointed with how people with aspirations to preside over his club have acted.

“It was not about being at Laporta’s side, it was about being at FC Barcelona’s side. It was a transcendental moment, in the middle of the competition (season), and they have destabilised the team. That’s why I value the strength of the team and (manager) Hansi Flick.”

Laporta stopped for a moment, his emotions beginning to show.

“Poor Barca,” he said, “if it ever ends up in the hands of these people.”

The Athletic was at Laporta’s first press conference since Barcelona had initially failed to register summer 2024 signings Olmo and Victor for the rest of this season due to the club’s difficulty in complying with La Liga’s salary rules. But then, last Wednesday, the pair received a three-month reprieve following an injunction by a Spanish government agency, the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD), which means they can play on while the legal complexities are decided.

Laporta arriving at the conference (Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images)

However, Laporta has faced huge criticism as a result. At the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, Barca’s training ground, with two rows of club directors sitting in front of him and applauding his answers at times, he addressed the following:

The legal argument over registering Olmo and Victor
Why the crucial injunction was granted
What happened in the VIP box with RFEF members at the Supercopa semi-final
Barca star Raphinha’s comments on players now thinking twice about signing for them
The psychological impact all this has had on Olmo and Victor
Accepting money from Qatar for VIP seats at the yet-to-reopen Camp Nou

This is what he said and what it means.

On the registration of Olmo and Victor

The press conference was packed and began at 10am yesterday — an unusually early time for such events at Barcelona — but there were urgent matters to be discussed, none more so than the efforts to re-register summer arrivals Olmo and Victor.

“On December 27 we presented to La Liga, before the end of the year and within the deadline, the application for the registration of both players, but La Liga asked us to complete the documentation,” said Laporta. “On the 31st, we thought we had met these requirements to return to the 1:1 rule (that clubs cannot spend more on players than they earn in revenue), but La Liga asked for additional requirements.

“We also asked for the extension of the players’ licences from the federation, who told us that we still needed to be in the 1:1, but that if we could achieve this, there would be no problems.”

Laporta then discussed the rule being cited by La Liga, article 141.5, which says “football players whose licence is cancelled may not, in the course of the same season, obtain a licence in the same team of the club to which they were already linked”.

“The purpose of the rule,” he said, “is the stability of the competition and we did not enter into a situation that is foreseen to prevent a player from registering with different clubs in the same season. This was not the case because (Olmo and Victor) started with us and had a valid contract, it was an extension of the licence.

“Both La Liga and the RFEF told us that the rule was obsolete. The law is very clear about the rights of sportsmen. They have started playing with Barca and continue to do so because they have a valid contract. And the stability of the competition is achieved through the stability of the squads.”

The CSD will consider Barca’s complaint, and La Liga and the RFEF will defend their decision not to re-register the two players for the second half of the season.

GO DEEPER

Barca’s Olmo reprieve: How long can he and Victor play for, why did the government intervene and what next?

On the temporary measures

Laporta said he did not want to go into detail about the case because “the appeal was still being processed” but was firm that Barca “had always complied with the rule of law”.

Olmo after winning the Spanish Supercopa trophy in Jeddah on Sunday (Haitham Al Shukairi/AFP/Getty Images)

On the decision of the CSD, he said: “For the CSD to grant a precautionary measure is (because) it already appreciates that damage is being caused that is difficult to repair, and also that there is an appearance of good law (in the arguments presented by Barca). That is why the CSD and the state lawyers have (granted) the precautionary measure.”

On the impact on the players

Laporta appeared visibly moved as he said: “They and their families have suffered a lot. It has not been pleasant. We told them, ‘We will register you’. We had the legal reason, but they have to give it to you.

“They have suffered a lot, they couldn’t play. They have suffered a lot because of the consequences. They have behaved very well. They were worried, but trying not to affect the dynamics of the group (squad). We tried to explain the evolution but it wasn’t easy.”

On his celebration and VIP box behaviour

When the injunction became known, Laporta was caught on camera celebrating the news by shouting and making a vulgar gesture known as a ‘botifarra’ in Catalonia (botifarra is a type of Catalan sausage) as he entered the stadium before Barca’s Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Athletic Club of Bilbao in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah that night. In addition, there were claims of poor behaviour in the VIP box at the same game, where members of the RFEF were present.

“We had achieved a difficult thing against all and sundry. I had a reaction. In no case did I insult anyone, nor did I kick or grab anyone by the neck… it was a restrained euphoria and indignation. I had suffering on my mind,” Laporta said.

“I had spoken to the president of the RFEF, who told us that they had to give us the licence, and I spoke to him. We talked about it and clarified it. I am the way I am, I don’t like to play the role. I had a reaction, that’s what it is and that’s it.”

On Raphinha’s comments

There was tension yesterday between the media and Barca’s president, who was clearly annoyed, especially when he got asked about the words of Raphinha, who said before that semi-final against Athletic Club that players could question whether to join Barcelona in light of what has gone on with Olmo and Victor.

“Raphinha wanted to highlight the greatness of this club, it was you who duped him,” Laporta said, though the original question to the Brazilian forward came from a journalist based in the Middle East, not a member of the Catalan press.

On his critics

“The opposition have had a golden opportunity to show that they love Barca, and they have not taken advantage of it,” Laporta said. “They have sided with those who wanted to destabilise us and with the media, who have been very hostile.”

Laporta with the Supercopa after Barca won Sunday’s final (Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)

On the VIP seats deal

The key to Barcelona’s return to being compliant with the 1:1 rule was the sale of 475 VIP seats to an unknown buyer.

Explaining the situation, Laporta said: “There is an investor from Qatar who subscribed €30million (£25.3m, $30.9m) and paid it out and we credited it to La Liga, and the other, from the Emirates (the Gulf country, not Arsenal’s home stadium), for €70m; 40 per cent had to be paid in, and it didn’t arrive until the 31st, the banks had closed and we didn’t credit it until the third (of January).

“We fulfilled all the requirements before the 31st. The regulation does not say that it has to be credited, it is a requirement of La Liga and we supplemented what we could, but the accreditation of part of it was later.”

On changing his mind about Qatar

When Sandro Rosell was president of Barcelona from 2010-14, he allowed Qatar Airways to be their front-of-shirt sponsor, replacing charity Unicef. Laporta was critical of Rosell for that decision, saying “you had to choose between Qatar and corrupt or between Unicef and clean”.

Having now sold seats at Camp Nou to investors from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Laporta was asked what the difference is between that situation a decade ago and today.

“The Gulf countries see that they are opening up in a process of normalisation,” he said. “Right now, these countries are becoming a place of opportunity, as it was, in my time (as a young man), to go to the United States or London to study for a master’s degree.

“They are countries of opportunity of all kinds. They are on the way to achieving standards that we consider to be right. Saudi Arabia is also interested in our women’s football. There is a certain openness, which there wasn’t a few years ago.

“I think it is very different to promote a country directly than to do this kind of business with companies from countries that are investing in the whole world of sport. We feel comfortable with both investors from Qatar and Emirates.”

GO DEEPER

What a Clasico Supercopa in Jeddah tells us about the relationship between Spain and Saudi Arabia

After listening to all of Laporta’s comments, there was a feeling of a golden opportunity missed by the club president to show self-criticism and transparency. Instead, he was hostile before and to the press, sending messages to those who had not rowed the boat in his favour.

He used Tuesday’s press conference to defend himself and create the narrative of a club who won out against all and everything.

The event was supposed to last an hour, but ran for almost two — yet key matters still remained unexplained.