President of Barcelona John Laporta he has also been on his travels during the international break, although not for football. The Blaugrana boss was seen on a private jet in Mongolia and then in Azerbaijan with various club directors and his former cousin Alejandro Echevarria.
First of all, he was seen in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bataar, where he met with the Minister of Culture Nomin Chinba. Relief they say it was partly to discuss opening a Barcelona Academy in Mongolia, while they also met with Gobi, a cashmere clothing brand, to talk about bringing out a Barcelona range.
What did you do during the international break?pic.twitter.com/qtUlwYYNfX
— Football España (@footballespana_) November 20, 2024
It is also reported that they attended an unnamed third country, but that Laporta was present at the COP29 meeting in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. He met with Farthad Hajiyev, the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, and the owner of Azhemco Adnan Ahmadzada, whom he met several times before in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
The rival political group Som un Clam demanded explanations for the trip, including the purpose of the trip, the costs, the lack of transparency and the number of employees who were involved.
Official: Barcelona has confirmed to its partners that the first two games of February against Alavés, Valencia and Atalanta will still be played at Montjuïc. @FCBarcelona
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) November 20, 2024
This comes as Barcelona keep looking for more sources of income. Despite reassuring fans during their general assembly that there would be no problems to register the contracts of Dani Olmo and Pau Victor in January, but all reports say that even with the new sponsorship contract of Nike, Barcelona still needs to solve the matter.
In the past, Laporta has been criticized for not being completely honest about both the club's finances and the club's contractual arrangements. The Nike agreement was confidential, according to the request of the American sportswear brand, club officials said, but as a club owned by members, in theory its accounts and business are all public.
