Barcelona: The small auditorium in a working-class neighborhood of Barcelona is packed with people listening to a middle-aged man in a suit tell them why he deserves their vote. There are campaign posters, a jingle blaring over loudspeakers, television cameras, lots of handshakes and selfies, and, of course, a stump speech full of pledges as well as barbs for the rival candidate.
But this is not about deciding the next mayor or filling a seat in a national legislature.
This election campaign is to determine who will earn the job of running FC Barcelona during one of its most turbulent periods as it struggles to emerge from a mountain of debt. Barça (pronounced “Barsa” in English) is proud of its slogan of being “more than a club” for its attractive soccer, its connection with Catalan culture, and backing humanitarian causes. But what really makes Barça stand out from other globally followed sports teams is that it is owned by 114,000 due-paying club members, not a billionaire or energy-rich Middle Eastern state like those which control Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
Those Barça club members have been called to cast votes on Sunday in Barcelona and three other cities in northeastern Spain, as well as neighboring Andorra, to pick the club’s next president and executive board. “I really like the elections. It makes me feel part of the club. My father was a Barça supporter since I was a little girl. I’ve lived and loved Barça since I was little,” 96-year-old Rosa Capdevila, cane in hand, said at a recent event held by incumbent Joan Laporta.
Many voters, however, believe their choice of president, who also acts as the CEO, will prove crucial to the future of Barça’s rare ownership model, which is threatened by the highest debt burden of any soccer club in the world, a staggering 2 billion euros Real Madrid is also member-owned and Florentino Pérez has presided over. agencies