The Espai Barça, with its corresponding financing operation for 1,450 million euros, in addition to the increase in subscriptions planned for the transfer to Montjuïc, have made a dent in various groups of Barcelona members who, in their personal capacity as club members, will sign this Monday in a Barcelona law firm a letter addressed to the Economic Commission of FC Barcelona to request the report and the recommendations of the commission, which must be drawn up according to the club's statutes, on the financing operation of the new Spotify Camp Nou and its surroundings. This initiative has been coordinated by the lawyer Jaume Llopis, a former member of the Espai Barça commission who left six months later due to the departure of Messi and who has been in charge of conveying the response.
At the same time, as this newspaper learned, these partners who belong to the Barcelona groups that are Seguiment Blaugrana, Transparència Blaugrana, Dignitat Blaugrana, Un Crit Valent and Compromissaris, will also send the Ombudsman another similar letter in which, in addition to informing of their movements with the Economic Commission, they also request the intervention of the member's body to rethink the subscription model that the directive has arranged during the year in which Barcelona will play in Montjuïc.
The letter, to which La Vanguardia has had access, calls on the Economic Commission to share the report, of a non-binding nature, on the financing operation and that it is mandatory to prepare as indicated in article number 58 of the entity's statutes in which "the scope, suitability and economic repercussions that the operation will have on the operation and even on the ownership of the club" must be clarified.
They also point out that, if they do not receive these documents within the next seven days from the receipt of the letter, "we will interpret that they do not want to deliver the reports to us and we will consider ourselves free to request them in the legally appropriate way. In case of not having made them, they will be personally responsible for all damages that may be caused to the club due to their negligence and disregard of the obligations of their competence.
The request for the reports, according to the letter, is based on the decisions that the assembly of compromising partners approved between October 17 and 20, 2021 and that, according to this group of partners, have not been complied with. “The general assembly approved an unequivocal investment and cost plan to carry out the works on the Espai Barça under the following terms: 900 million euros for the future Camp Nou; 20 million for the Johan Cruyff stadium; 60 million for the modification of the General Metropolitan Plan; 100 million for the urbanization of the surroundings and the Barça Campus and 420 million for the new Palau Blaugrana”, recalls the letter.
And he adds that “the board of directors has announced the formalization of a financing operation led by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to obtain 1,450 million for the execution of the Espai Barça project. According to public information, the amount of 1,071 million will be allocated to the work of the Camp Nou, despite having been awarded to Limak for 960 million, another 200 million are destined to attend contingencies such as unforeseen events, guarantees, delays, construction alterations and any other situation. that puts the work at risk; and, the remaining 179 million are intended to meet the financial costs of the credit. In addition, there are another 50 million that have not been arranged. The financing operation, Camp Nou aside, does not include the Palau Blaugrana", they maintain.
Beyond the amounts, the members are also concerned about the consequences that the financing operation may cause in the club's ownership model and the alteration of future economic balances.
Regarding the ownership model, they denounce "the opacity and the need to know the content of the clauses agreed with the lenders on the economic repercussions that breach of contract could have on the club's ownership model." For this reason, they ask the Economic Commission for the conclusions on how the financing operation can influence the future balance sheets of the club.
In the letter addressed to the Síndic del Soci, in addition to informing the Economic Commission of his requests, he also expressed his discomfort at the rise in prices of the Montjuïc season tickets. Specifically, they criticize the decision of the board "to suspend the rights of current season ticket holders and the covert increase in the price of the season ticket for those who decide to attend the matches, implementing it in the form of a temporary pass." They consider that "the Board of Directors does not have the powers to adopt these measures in addition to not complying with the Bylaws" and requests the Ombudsman "to intervene, defend and resolve" their request.
