The FC Barcelona census, the record of all the members who are part of the entity, is practically the alma mater of the club. Periodically updating the data of each of the people who pay to have a membership card or a subscription to go see the games, among other advantages, is a statutory obligation and a vital necessity for a club that continues to defend that its private nature and non-profit is owned by its partners.
The last time the club updated its database was in February 2012. It took two and a half years to close a procedure that, except for those members who lived outside of Catalonia, had to be done in person. That was Pep Guardiola's last season on the bench of a team that had won absolutely everything. Eleven years later, Joan Laporta's board of directors began a new update of the census in March that has lasted eight months and was carried out electronically for the first time. The deadline expired last Thursday, November 30. Once the period expires, the club has 110,531 registered members of the 141,309 called to update their data. 30,770 members have been left behind.
The motives? “There are several and we are studying them. But we believe that it is a problem of inertia. Of 'I'll do it'. And you don't. It is the disposition of the Barça partner. That is why it is important to set deadlines but we do not want to leave anyone out,” institutional vice president Elena Fort insists to La Vanguardia. Analyzing the data, the vice president points out that during the process “we have noticed that there is a significant number of young people between 10 and 20 years old who have not been counted. And another group of older people who have not verified their data either.”
At the close of the census update, a total of 1,987 members of the 30,770 who have not completed the process are over 80 years old. “In the elderly group, the perception is that there are many people who have died. And we all know cases of parents or grandparents with a subscription who are no longer there and whose children have continued paying without making the name change. It's about the son or grandson making it theirs,” explains Fort.
For many members over 60 years of age, the obstacle has been precisely the technological gap. To complete the update, the member had to enter the club's official website with their passwords and personal code and complete a process of about three minutes that consisted of filling out a form with their personal information, taking a photograph and making a recording of voice. “Even if it takes three minutes, an elderly person cannot complete this process without help. It costs them a lot,” a member tells this newspaper.
In case of difficulty, members could also go in person to the OAB (Barcelonian Support Office) located in the old Camp Nou, reinforced with seven temporarily hired people. In the case of the elderly group, residences have also been visited and calls made. “But they didn't answer the calls,” many partners criticize. A situation that the club attributes to the great accumulation of work they have had in recent weeks. A partner explains his case to this newspaper. “The strongest thing was the case of my cousin. My father (now deceased) made him a partner when he was born 16 years ago but we didn't know what email address. I called two mornings and they didn't answer the phone. The lines were busy. I wrote to the OAB on September 14 and nothing. On the 22nd a second email that was not answered. On October 1, I sent them a third email, angry about the lack of response to a member. At the same time I called and I was lucky that an operator picked up and I knew it was my cousin's email. 20 days later, they confirmed the update,” explains a partner to this newspaper.
The telematic method did not exist in 2012, the date of the last update. At that time, the Barcelona team chaired by Sandro Rosell installed several tents around the Camp Nou in 60 percent of the matches and temporarily reinforced the OAB with 20 workers to accompany the partner in this process in a period that was extended by two years and half. There were also telephone calls for the group over 70 years of age and a media campaign was started to remind members of the established deadlines. In total the club invested 1.5 million euros. They were different times. At the Camp Nou there was no talk of a viability plan, nor of a skyrocketing wage bill, nor of economic fair play as now. “We would have liked to invest more money. But we must stick to the viability plan and we have invested what we could,” details Fort. Despite the change in format, in 2012 there were also partners who did not complete the process. When it was launched, Barça had 170,110 members, of which 25,354 left. 10,505 due to death and 14,849 attributed to irregularities and withdrawals for not paying the annuity.
Misinformation about the deadlines to complete the process is another reason that some partners criticize. The entity defends that during these eight months up to 27 communications have been sent to each partner in different formats. By SMS, email or social networks.
Verifying and updating the census becomes even more important in view of the construction of the future Spotify Camp Nou. According to the contracts between FC Barcelona and the Turkish construction company Limak, it will be ready in November 2024 with 50 percent of the capacity and coinciding with the club's 125th anniversary. When the works are completed, the capacity of the stadium will rise from 99,354 spectators to 104,600 and this will also reduce the waiting list of subscribers. Although the club does not reveal the current number of members on the waiting list, it does clarify that it extends beyond the 11,000 season ticket holders who have not been registered.
Another objective of the update is to detect a bag of possible irregularities. “Of the 16,864 Montjuïc subscribers there are 2,700 who have not been registered. It's a truly staggering number. We think there may be a pocket of fraud. We will study it,” warns Fort.
