Barcelona's institutional vice president, Elena Fort, was the first person from the club to speak publicly about the registration drama surrounding Dani Olmo and Pau Victor, who are currently free to leave. She also revealed the first details of a deal to sell the rights to commercialize VIP seats at the newly renovated Camp Nou, a deal struck to help Olmo and Victor register.
Fort admitted to RAC1 that she did not know the name of the investors who bought a total of 470 VIP seats once Camp Nou opened, believed to be from two companies in Qatar and Dubai, but defended the club and said they had not improvised . . The total value of the deal is believed to be €110 million.
“It is true that everyone notes that there is a deadline, but that is not the case. The social networks and the news we receive with Barca as those involved are unfair. A preliminary judgment was made without any real information about what happened. Barca has fulfilled all the obligations of economic control from the first moment we arrived and now with the signatures. I heard we sold an asset cheaply at the last minute. If I remember correctly, the first movements took place in mid-October, in parallel with the operation with Nike. The fact that it is not reported does not mean that Barça is not working.”
However, she did reveal that the deal was not in fact a 20-year lease of those seats, but rather a 30-year lease. Barcelona's current regime has been accused of mortgaging the club's future.
“It's for thirty years. There is no mortgage on the club, Espai Barca has financing through Goldman Sachs and this financing is, in part, through the 'Hospitality' of the VIP seats. The rental has been marketed with great success, as have the boxes. There are 470 of those seats, which does not correspond to 5% of the total, and an agreement has been made whereby this investor buys the license to commercialize them in the future. The cost of this rental, from €21,000 to €80,000, is guaranteed. This company will pay the maximum amount it would receive, it gives the company the right to exploit it and sell it at its own risk. It provides absolute stability, that agreement is a great success.”
She went on to explain that La Liga had changed its position on the Nike sponsorship deal, telling the club that they were initially under the impression that this would put them back within their salary cap and allow Olmo and Victor to sign up. That is why Barcelona had decided to approve the sale or rental of those VIP seats.
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