we reproduce in full the farewell speech of Josep Maria Bartomeu as president of FC Barcelona:

"Good evening, members and partners,

I appear today to announce my resignation and that of the rest of the Board of Directors.

This is a considered, serene decision, consulted and agreed upon by all my fellow managers, who have accompanied me in recent years, with fidelity and commitment to the project and the Club, and who have renounced so many things, always thinking of Barça .

This morning, as you well know, I received the response from the Government of the Generalitat to the letter that was sent to you yesterday. Your answer is clear. I will read verbatim: " We inform you that the Government of the Generalitat, represented by the representatives of the Departments of the Presidency, Interior and Health, reiterates that there are no legal or sanitary impediments to hold the vote of the Vote of Censorship, as long as they include, in the organizational protocol of said Vote of No confidence, the requirements that the PROCICAT technical group presented to FC Barcelona itself at the meeting held on October 21 ". This means that they ask and demand a decentralized vote.

In summary. They don't say anything else. They make no mention of our request made in the same meeting and in previous ones, which consisted of requesting legal coverage to have 15 days of margin to be able to organize the complicated logistics necessary to be able to hold votes that would respect the minimum essential health security measures at this time. Decentralized voting that, for the first time, proposed voting in 21 different electoral venues, distributed throughout the territory, 13 in Catalonia and 8 in the rest of the State.

They also do not speak of the date of the vote, although they know that we are obliged to call them no later than today, and that if we do not do so, we would be in breach of our own Statutes.

That is why we asked them for legal coverage. The same that they asked the Central Government to be able to take extraordinary measures, such as the curfew and others. But they have decided not to give us what they have asked for and got from the State Government. They have simply chosen to wash their hands in a situation that is uncomfortable for them, without thinking about the consequences that their decision may cause.

Immediately after, this noon, a meeting of the vote of no confidence has been called. The representatives of the Board of Directors of the Club have proposed holding the voting act, as requested by the Government of the Generalitat, in 21 different electoral venues, but on November 15 and 16, in order to complete the necessary logistics.

Both the representatives of the promoters of the vote, as well as the president of the table, representing the Catalan Football Federation, have not only opposed, but have warned that, if these dates were set, they would file the appropriate legal actions against the Board of Directors of the Club. And this has been reflected in the minutes drawn up by the notary.

Yesterday, in my appearance, I spoke of the perplexity that some decisions caused us. Today I have to say that these decisions, apart from being contradictory, seem irresponsible to us.

I know it is a strong adjective, but I don't see another that better reflects what I think. At a time when the Government itself is applying painful citizen measures that have serious social and economic repercussions for individuals, families and companies. Where, since yesterday, even more stringent measures are being hinted at, such as confinement on weekends. Where the technicians consulted speak of the danger of collapsing our health system, when the same experts also recommend confining the entire population. Where we see contradictory versions, from members of the Government itself, such as the obligation or recommendation that all companies do telework ... At this moment and with all this scenario, I can not find another qualifier to define this decision, that of irresponsible.

But we have to act responsibly. That is why we cannot call the Vote of No confidence in the current circumstances. It had to be guaranteed that it could be done in the right conditions to preserve everyone's health, so that no one stopped doing it out of fear, mobility problems, or because they were part of a highly vulnerable group. We cannot and do not want to place ourselves before the position of having to choose between the protection of health and the exercise of the right to vote. And that is why we made the decision not to call the vote and immediately resign from our duties.

We know that we will leave the Club in the hands of a Management Commission that, in the current circumstances of the pandemic, has no guarantee of being able to hold an election in the short term. We know. And I hope that the Manager can carry out our decisions to adapt the Club to the crisis of the pandemic.

The will of this Board of Directors has never been to remain in the government of the Club, as we have had to hear repeatedly for months. I assure you.

And so why don't we resign earlier?

After the elimination in the Champions League, the easiest thing was to leave. The easiest thing was to resign. But from the day after that very painful defeat, urgent decisions had to be taken, fundamental to guarantee the sporting future and the immediate sustainability of the Club. And above all, it had to be done in the midst of an unprecedented global crisis as a result of the pandemic that we are experiencing. We could not leave the Club in the hands of a management board with limited powers.

Who would have hired the new technician? Who was going to decide and negotiate during the football market? Who was going to defend the continuity of Leo Messi? Who had to implement the spending reduction measures? Who had to face the proposal to adjust the salaries of all professional athletes?

As a Board we understood that, out of responsibility, we had to assume all these decisions. Most of them, awkward decisions, and unpopular.

And the most obvious proof that we had no intention of clinging to power is that we called the elections for the month of March, on the first date allowed by the Statutes. Because we believed that this could help to pacify the environment, facilitate the work of the teams and make possible an orderly transition with the new board that emerged from the polls.

An early resignation at the end of the season would have led the Club to an electoral process and a power vacuum, under the direction of a Management Commission, as I have said with limited powers, and in a few weeks where it was necessary to make sporting and economic decisions that could not be postponed and powerful.

And that is what I explained at the appearance on Monday: we had no reason to resign with an election called in March and with work related to our management still to be done. Work that, due to responsibility, we could not avoid, despite all the personal wear and tear that we could suffer, ourselves and our families.

A Club like Barça must be able to have orderly transitions between government and government. Too many times in the past we have found ourselves in the circumstance of sudden term ends, which have not allowed this exercise, which is essential in an entity of our size. It is precisely for this reason that our statutes provide such a wide margin of time to make the electoral calls: to be able to carry out this traffic in the best possible way.

Instead, it has been hinted that we had hidden interests, things to hide, and it has even been said that we wanted to avoid endorsing ... All false insinuations and unfortunately, many of them justified in political or electoral interests.

I have always accepted criticism. They say that I have a great capacity for resilience. I do not know. What I do know is that I accumulate enough experience, together with my colleagues on the Board of Directors, to know what reality there is to live with from the direction of the Club.

And I have always defended that our self-criticism makes us stronger, and that Barça always comes out of critical episodes reinforced. But what we have experienced in recent months exceeds any limit. We have been disrespected, my colleagues on the Board and me; I have been insulted, threatened, even my family. Also to all my colleagues on the Board of Directors.

These days there are people who ask me what motivated me to join the Barça Board of Directors, first as a manager and later as President, and if it has really been worth it. In fact, it has been an honor to be able to serve my Club from all these responsibilities.

During all these years as a director and as President, I have tried to exercise the position on behalf of the Club members, with respect, humility and honesty.

Today, however, we are forced to resign. And we have to do it without having completed ongoing economic measures to reduce our immediate expenses and to continue to ensure the growth of our income. I hope that the next few days the implementation of a measure can be completed, that of the salary adjustment of a part of the workforce and of our workers. A measure that, if not applied, can have very serious consequences in the immediate future of the Club. I trust and we trust the entire Board of Directors that the Management Commission can finish this process, and hopefully it will be with an agreement of all parties. For the good of Barça.

Today I can announce news that will change, in an extraordinary way, the Club's income prospects for the coming years.

Yesterday the Board of Directors approved the acceptance of the requirements to participate in a future European Football Club Super League, a project promoted by the big clubs in Europe.

The details of these requirements will be available to the next Board of Directors, and the decision on participation in this competition must be ratified by the next Assembly of Committing Members.

And I also want to announce that we have approved the acceptance of the future new format of the Club World Cup.

We can proudly say that we are the best sports club in the world in terms of the value of its sponsorship income. We have achieved this in competition with clubs owned by large magnates, corporations and even states, and we have achieved this by maintaining our ownership model, in the hands of the partners, maintaining our popular character, without raising the prices of the December 2011 tickets. and keeping them as the cheapest of the big European clubs.

The European Club Super League will guarantee the economic sustainability of the Club and that it continues to belong to the members. Never a sports corporation. Never.

Our uniqueness means that we do not have to distribute dividends among our members and that the nearly 200 million profits accumulated by this Board since 2010, the highest profits in the history of the Club achieved by a Board of Directors, have been used for investments. sports and heritage.

The Club has an indisputable solidity, despite the difficulties we are experiencing today. In the last three years we have developed new business avenues, such as our digital strategy, with projects with the new OTT, Barça TV +, the development of content through Barça Studios, the e-Commerce platform for online sales, or search new knowledge and new income through the Barça Innovation Hub.

The Barça Corporate project approved yesterday, and pending completion and ratification at the next Assembly of Committing Members, will generate more value for these new projects and the ordinary activity of the Club.

I also want to refer to Espai Barça, a club project approved by the members in a referendum and which should be one of the main new sources of income for Barça in the future. Espai Barça is in progress, we have already invested, we have the first piece of the project, the Johan Cruyff Stadium, finished and operational, and we leave the political agreement, technical projects and a financing proposal to pay the works without affecting the ordinary management of the Entity with Goldman Sachs without any type of guarantee that puts the viability of the Club at risk.

It is worth raising your head and remembering that since 2004, we Barça fans can feel privileged. We are enjoying an era of extraordinary success, an unprecedented era in European football. Cycles have been renewed, with new technicians and new players, and we have continued to win. We have celebrated 34 titles, ahead of Bayern, Porto, Madrid and PSG.

Of these 34 football titles, 22 have been achieved under the mandate of this Board of Directors in the last 10 years. An unprecedented average number of titles per year in the Club's history.

The renewal of the team that we have done in recent months should have been done a year earlier, I admit it, and I assumed my share of responsibility. How? Calling the elections for the month of March 2021, in the closest period provided by the Statutes, as the end of a mandate.

And why do the Statutes provide for this option? To ensure, as I have said before, an orderly transition with the president and the incoming board. What is best for the Entity, given its size, the high degree of competitiveness of the industry and the economic context that has caused the current health crisis.

We had to rejuvenate the squad, renew illusions, change inertia and dynamics ... and we have done it. This has involved the departure of players who have been essential in the successes of recent years. I want to reiterate our gratitude to all of them for their contribution to the club in recent years. We have also incorporated young people from Barça B with a great future and young talent from abroad.

As I said last Monday, the decision to hire the new coach, Ronald Koeman, had to be assumed by the Board of Directors, in the same way that we had to face the summer market. And I am very happy with this decision.

I hope that time confirms and continues to value the assets that have been renewed and generated over the last few years. We are the most beloved club in the world, the largest in number of fans, followers on social networks, our globality is indisputable, with headquarters in Hong Kong and New York.

We wanted to be a benchmark when it comes to promoting the role of women in society, with the professionalization of the women's soccer team as a standard, already established as a benchmark at the national and European level. And also claiming the role of women in our Club throughout history, and in the world of sport.

We are proud of the path we have traveled, turning Barça into a club committed to society, to its country, to the most vulnerable boys and girls, to a Foundation that is a great reference in the world of sport and that is being an actor critical humanitarian in this pandemic.

We are proud to have worked and consolidated social programs during these years such as: the 'T'acompanyem', the Partit Solidari, the Barça Desplaçaments, the Espai d'Animació or the Espai Jove; having pushed the subscription waiting list or been relentless in the fight against fraud.

And of having endowed the supporters clubs with an organization like the World Confederation of Supporters Clubs, which brings together 30 federations and which has made the supporters' movement today stronger, more efficient and more global than ever.

I can also assure you that the Masía has established itself as a benchmark for a sports and human training model, with a program that provides assistance to more than 600 athletes from our training teams.

As it is also a pride to have Barça academies all over the world that teach boys and girls to play football with our style and with our values.

Our multisport vocation is more alive than ever. From the Social Area a great job has been done to promote our amateur sports, which bring together more than 1,500 athletes of all ages, and it has been especially committed to promoting the educational aspect.

Since 2010 we have celebrated a total of 149 titles for the other professional teams: 19 for basketball, 52 for handball, 31 for roller hockey, 27 for futsal, and 20 for women's football.

Sometimes, I have said that we have had to manage Barça in one of the most convulsive times of the Country and also of the Club. We have had to face all kinds of situations, from a historical political context (where we have always supported our Institutions, defending two non-negotiable principles such as the right to freedom of expression and the right to decide), overcoming the death of Tito Vilanova .

We have also lived with disbelief the unjust imprisonment of a Barça President, Sandro Rosell. Or insults, sometimes irrational and cruel criticism, by some media, which have gone beyond what is admissible.

But now, my colleagues and I want to turn the page. I hope that everyone makes their reflections and draws their own conclusions.

I only hope to continue enjoying our Barça, from a distance. I wish the best to the President and the new Board that we elected the Club members. They will always have my respect and my collaboration if they consider it necessary. Mine and that of the entire Board of Directors.

We are the partners who decide our future. Nobody else. This is one of the main characteristics of identity and greatness of Barça, the most beloved club in the world. And this was the mission of our Strategic Plan when we started the 2015 mandate: to make Barça the most admired, loved and global entity, and I believe that we have more than achieved this objective.

I thank all the members, supporters, athletes, technical secretaries, coaches and members of all staffs, executives and employees of the Club, permanent permanent employees, members of the committees, patrons of the Foundation, and especially my colleagues Board of Directors, current and former.

In short, I thank the entire Barça family for all the work done and their support during these years, since we arrived in 2010, with Sandro Rosell as president.

I also thank you for your constructive criticism and I encourage you to continue enjoying the best club in the world.

Thank you very much,

Visca Barça and Visca Catalunya! "


https://www.fcbarcelona.es/es/club/noticias/1878687/josep-maria-bartomeu-anuncia-la-dimision-de-la-junta-directiva

Worst president ever after woodwork

W