Since the end of January, barcelona's partnership with streaming music service platform Spotify has been frequently seen in the media. When Spotify executives came to camp nou to watch the match between Barca and Atletico Madrid, it was almost an official announcement of the cooperation between the two sides. When Radio Catalonia said on Monday that the two sides would officially sign the contract on Tuesday, no one would have thought that what was announced on Tuesday was the resignation of Barca CEO Revetelle. In the announcement, Revettel thanked Laporta for her trust and said she "wanted to focus on personal and family matters."
The last straw
Although Within hours of winning the election, Laporta said Reverter would become CEO, it wasn't until July 1, 2021, that Revettel officially took office. During his more than seven months at Barcelona, the professional manager, who was CEO of German electrical retail giant Media Markt Saturn, played a very important role. In fact, as the club's top leader in the administrative field, Revettel is as important as football director Alemani. Similarly, Revettl has made many contributions, as mentioned in the announcement: "Led the reform of the club and the implementation of the strategic plan for 2021-2026, led the club to debt restructuring, wage cuts, reached agreements with new partners, and enabled the 'Barça Space' program to be approved by members, etc." ”
Although officials said Revettel resigned for "personal and family reasons," this was not the case. Barca's negotiations with Spotify were the trigger for Revettel's departure, and he and Laporta had been unhappy until then. Despite the good times between the two sides – such as when Revetelle announced the results of the audit in October last year, and when Revettel introduced members to the "Barca Space" program at the general meeting. But in the course of conflict over multiple issues, the two sides have gone farther and farther.
Revertel and Laporta disagreed, in fact, from Messi's departure. Revettel met with Real Madrid president Florentino and his cronies Angel Sanchez at a "UEFA Premier League" discussion and, after listening to their advice and reading the contents of the CVC stake contract, joined some vice-presidents in persuading Laporta to abandon the stake contract – which represents a waiver of the renewal of the contract with Messi. The same is true of the club's transfer policy, where after the obligation to guarantee was lifted, Laporta, who believed that "money should stay on the pitch, not in the bank", began to become radical, one of the proofs of which was the signing of Ferran Torres for 55 million euros in the winter window, but Revettel believed that the budget should be strictly adhered to, and said that the transfer was unnecessary, even dangerous - because it could leave the club without money available when the money was urgently needed, and could also affect Holland's signing.
In addition, there are differences between the two sides in the management of personnel. Journalist Seeck revealed on the show that when Felan López, who has a deep background in the Catalan Mounted Police, was appointed as the head of security, Revettl was not involved in the process, or was asked for advice, which made him very unhappy, and the former was eventually fired for dereliction of duty. Similarly, When hiring two people related to the club's operating structure, Reverter also expressed different opinions, but was not referred to. When it comes to club owners, Revettel prefers to convert the club into mixed ownership – similar to a 75% stake in members and a 25 per cent stake in other companies – and sees this as helping clubs compete with other giants. But Laporta and his cronies didn't want to talk about it at all, and they didn't think it would be possible to get it through among the members.
As for the last straw that overwhelmed the relationship between the two sides, it was the cooperation with Spotify. According to previous reports by Radio Catalan, this sponsorship will last for three years, Spotify will replace most of the previous endorsement projects (except for the armband) of Lotte (the main sponsor of the men's team, 55 million per year before the epidemic), Beko (training clothes and armbands, 19 million per year before the epidemic) and Stanley (the main sponsor of the women's team, 3 million), and will also obtain the naming rights of the Camp Nou (slightly different from the titles such as the Igna Signal Park stadium in Dort, The new name for camp Nou will be Camp Nou Spotify).
Speaking about the contract, economist and journalist Mark said that although there are doubts in some aspects, it is indeed a good contract, and the 5 million sponsorship of the women's team is even higher than the sponsorship of the Betis first team. Revettel's argument that "you can't put all your eggs in one basket" also makes sense, but the leading negotiator is the club's vice-chairman of marketing, Julie Giu, and Laporta did not listen to Revettel. When Reverter returned to Barcelona after talking with Goldman Sachs in the United States about the capital injection of the "Barça Space" project, he found that the contract had been signed and submitted his resignation.
The "relational household" gas took Revettel
The biggest clash between Revettel and La Porta, fundamentally, lies in the club's management model. In the distribution of power, Reverter hopes that the CEO will have a greater say in the club's strategic decisions, and Laporta likes to be involved in the operation of each department of the club. Grau worked 12 hours a day, but Bartomeu wasn't with him. Reverter also works 12 hours a day, but Laporta is always around. A source familiar with the two said.
In fact, Laporta's power has been well demonstrated in the previous incident in which Šhiro, the vice president of the economy who accompanied him in his candidacy, decided not to join the presidency, and in Barcelona, La porta is the rule. In terms of personnel selection, Laporta tends to place "related households" in various departments of the club and give them great power, which makes Revettel very disgusted. Economist and journalist Mark said in an interview with Radio Cobe that "Revettel had to swallow the contract that Laporta gave to friends and family." ”
Revettel likes to attract talent from other companies widely and gives rigorous assessments. Under his specifications, former Nike employee Sergi Ricard took over the brand division, Carlos Sendros, who joined from Desigual, became director of human resources, and Juan Manuel, who served as head of technology at CaixaBank's payments business for two and a half years, became director of ICT, all of which strengthened Barca's business.
However, according to sports economy media 2Playbook, some of the people who came in with La Porta Cersei did not meet Revettel's standards. For example, Olch Bittner was responsible for projects in the commercial sector after joining Barca, and his partners at Aqipa Iberica included Lafa Eust, Barca's current vice-president of sports. Brian Bajna, who leads the Hong Kong office in China, previously served as director at CSSB Limited, a company controlled by Laporta's former ally, former Reus CEO and majority shareholder Joan Oliver. Perry Merado, who was in charge of the legal department, worked at the club between 2004 and 2010 and was once secretary to Reus' board during Joan Oliver's tenure. As for the club's digital strategy director, Pelomar Mikaze, she is actually the daughter of Laporta's chief of staff, Manana Giorgaze, a person whom Laporta had trusted during his time at the law firm, and the appointment sparked strong opposition within the club because of Pelomar's experience. In addition, Laporta's sister, Mayette, will head the newly created Diversity and Inclusion Division, which she will report directly to Chief Compliance Officer Javier Maas, while his cousin Marta Ségou will oversee the Foundation – a decision that has been internally recognized for her extensive experience.
Laporta with sister Mayette
Laporta's political friends have not been left behind, and Jordi Portabea, who helped him run for mayor of Barcelona in 2011, found a job in Barcelona. Despite the board's defense of professionalism, sources within the club believe Revettl will be able to find a more experienced candidate. The same is true for cooperation, the signing with Israeli cryptocurrency company Okunix mainly stems from Laporta's relationship, but then the actual controller of the company was arrested, and Barca canceled the contract, which almost caused Revettel to resign.
The "butterfly effect" is about to be triggered
Revettl's performance at the beginning of his tenure is hard to describe, and his mixed ownership concept also shows his "unsatisfactory". But Revettel quickly made adjustments and found a way to suit Barca. "At the beginning he looked lost. He doesn't know how to manage a football club, especially a club like Barcelona in an active and sometimes hurtful environment. A current vice-president said. Revettel has leadership skills and a clear idea of taking Barca out of the economic crisis, and some of that has been implemented. Journalist Adria said in the report. ARA's Marty interviewed several Barca employees, and although some of them complained that Revettl was too "door-picking," most of them still praised him.
Revettel's departure will have a huge negative impact, as a key figure inside the club put it, "It's very bad news because Revettel is a key figure in Barca's rebuilding process. "Fortunately, Revettel will continue to work at Barca until the new CEO takes office. However, his resignation may have a series of butterfly effects, according to the show La Porteria, some of the operations of the Barcelona winter window have not been approved by all directors, some of whom may also resign, and even do not rule out the resignation of several directors colleagues like "Pull One". The show Sin Concesiones revealed that Josép Maria Arvet, the director of the board who is responsible for helping the CEO, is already considering resigning. He and Revettl worked for the same company, and it was on his recommendation that He came to Barca. Also likely to act is Vice-President of the Economy, Edward Romeu.
One Barça director said, "In Barca there are troikas that control money, close and turn on taps. "These are Revettel, Vice President of the Economy Romeu and Chairman of the Economic Committee, Haume Guardiola. After Revettel left office, Romeu and Homey Guardiola lost their main allies, and no one knows how far Romeu's voice will decline.
Reverter isn't the first executive to resign, and probably not the last. On Radio Celle,Vieira's former Espanyol director of media and institutional relations, Augustine Rodríguez, said that Laporta's authoritarian style had been demonstrated when Hiro left office, and that such a style would surely make more people resign. The deeper question, however, is how should Laporta shape a professional management model?
After La Porta's victory, journalist Aguilar said that Barca's new structure "reminds people of Bayern's traditional organizational structure of separating administration from football", but nearly a year later, such a structure does not seem to apply – for Barca now, it is unrealistic to separate football from administration (e.g. finance, marketing). With Alemani going to continue as director of football, how does Laporta find a new CEO, a professional, power-hungry CEO, or, as journalist Ramon put it on Radio Serre, a CEO he's comfortable with? These may determine the success or failure of the "pull two phase".
Author: Hope
This article was originally published in the Sports Plus app
Images are from the web