Financially decimated FC Barcelona reported a loss of 481 million euros (12.2 billion crowns) last season. Old-New President Joan Laporta blames the disastrous economic situation on the club’s previous leadership, led by Josep Maria Bartomeu.
According to an official statement from Barcelona, the quantified loss is the result of low profits and the inability to reduce spending. “They bought players even though they knew they wouldn’t be able to pay them,” said Ferran Reverer, CEO of Bartomeu’s management, who has been in office since July. According to him, the financial recovery of the club will take five years.
Expenditure in the 2020/21 season rose by 19 percent to € 1.16 billion compared to the previous fiscal year, while revenue fell by 26 percent to € 631 million. For example, the closure of the stadium and other club premises due to a coronavirus pandemic resulted in a loss of 181 million euros. Revenues from television rights and the Champions League, where Barcelona was eliminated in the round of 16, also fell.
The criticized Bartomeu resigned at the end of last October, and in March Laporta, the former head of the club from 2003-2010, was elected president. He said in August that Barcelona had debts of 1.35 billion euros and that it was considering legal action against the former leadership. Marc’s daily reported on Monday that the club owed, among other things, 115 million euros to other teams for player transfers.
Due to the poor financial situation in the summer, its historically best scorer, Lionel Messi, left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain. Before the start of the season, the team agreed to reduce salaries so that reinforcements could be registered. The team is not even successful on the field, it is ninth in the Spanish league table after seven matches.
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