Barça Closes The Season In Technical Bankruptcy With A Hole Of 451 Million

FC Barcelona closed the season with a negative net worth of 451 million euros, which has forced the club to work to show our creditors that the club is viable, President Joan Laporta has recognized.

This was explained today by the Blaugrana president in an approach to the data of the due diligence that he commissioned when he took office, which will be presented in September at the General Assembly of Compromisarios.

In addition, the leader has admitted that the losses reach 481 million euros, while ensuring that the impact of the pandemic has risen to 91 million.

The accounts, audited by EY, collect debts that reach 1,350 million euros, of which 673 million correspond to bank debt; 379 million to commitments with the players; 56 of the commitments of Espai Barça; 90 million for litigation; 40 million subscribers that we will not charge for capacity restrictions; and a 79 million advance payment of 50% of LaLiga’s television rights. In addition, the team has a negative working capital of 553 million euros.

According to Laporta, “this is part of a ‘modus operandi’ that bypassed all the entity’s controls, such as the fractioning of the ‘Barçagate’ invoices, and the same thing happened at Espai Barça, with the debt contracted and in the IT and marketing departments “.

Despite everything, Laporta has been optimistic about reversing the club’s situation: “We have five proposals to be the main sponsor of the shirt, we have raised 595 million euros with Goldman Sachs with an interest of 1.9%, Barça Studios is interested, the situation will be reversed. There is no possibility of becoming a Sports Limited Company because this board does not want it. “

“We are convinced that the decisions that should be taken have been made. Messi is sad, but it was necessary. Because the institution is above all. We would have put everything at risk, the economic situation is dramatic,” insisted Laporta asked about the departure of the Argentine star.

Criticisms of the previous directive
President Culer has also pointed out to the previous board of directors about the current situation of the club, which was chaired by Josep María Bartomeu. Laporta has indicated that the letter is “full of lies.”

“I do not share the accounts that he does. They say that they are not responsible for the 2020-2021 financial year and are responsible until March 2021. The accounts that were closed are their responsibility. This I have already experienced in the past.

They reiterate a lie. The club was institutionalized that if you repeat a lie it becomes reality. It insists that my administration left negative results, when a court made it clear that it did not. All this causes a dramatic economic and patrimonial situation, “explained Laporta.

“We also found that urgent works had to be done at the Camp Nou, something a study reported already in 2019, to correct 119 pathologies that, if not repaired, posed a risk for people. This cost 1.8 millions of euros”.

Other reproaches of the president were that “the previous board collected 79 million euros in advance belonging to 50% of LaLiga’s television rights and the banks charged 9% interest for it” and that “disproportionate payments have been made to intermediaries “. Specifically, he explained that “there is a person who was paid 8 million euros to detect players in South America.”