Victor Font interview: 'To build the Barça of the future, we can't go back to 2003'
The presidential candidate sat down with SPORT to talk about the upcoming election
Continuing SPORT's series of interviews with the candidates to be the next Barcelona president, we sat down with one of the favourites, Victor Font, to talk about his vision for the club.
Here is a shortened version of the interview that appeared in Saturday's edition of the paper in Spanish:
Do you have the signatures needed to stand yet?
I don't have the total because we have 15,000 forms with supporters' clubs, 180 collection points... But I think we will make the cut.
Right now, Joan Laporta is the favourite. How do you handle being behind in the polls?
That's why we ask for time to compare models. We're talking about an ex-president (of the club) known by everyone, and the memories of his mandate evoke good moments. For that reason, it's normal that he's the favourite. But we're talking about a poll taken on Dec. 19, when everything started more or less. Now we have to confront the nostalgia with the future. We all like to remember the good times, the 2-6, the manita... But we have to build the club for the future and we can't go back to 2003, when there was a whole team that is now no more.
Who are you talking about?
About Johan Cruyff doing tasks as a de facto vice president on the sporting side of things, with Ferran Soriano revolutionising the offices, with Sandro Rosell working on the signing of Ronaldinho... That doesn't exits now, just new ideas and new leadership for the challenges of the future.
With Laporta, would you say the sequels are never as good?
I don't know if they're never good, but at the moment Barça does not need memories of the past but someone with experience in management. We can't hand the mandate over to people without experience in these situations.
You've spoken about the perfect storm for a while, you were a visionary.
Before the last treble... That's how it is and, unfortunately, the pandemic has made it more serious. Getting the diagnosis right from early on has allowed us to make a plan over recent years that is perfect for the current situation.
Why were you not able to get Laporta as part of your project?
From the start, we said it's not Victor Font's project, but a project central to FC Barcelona which everyone has to contribute to, including ex-presidents. We thought about an advisory board of former president, like Laporta, who could add their contacts, experience and help to the club, with our project as the reference. We didn't share that idea.
Moving on to Xavi...
We have tried to build a solid project to enable some of the historic figures of the club too feel at home, to work at the club and to not burn out. It doesn't seem negative to me...
You've been accused of using Xavi's name for your campaign.
Not at all, I am focused on our project. They have also criticised us for working so hard to govern the club.
And Xavi's been involved in that work…
Exactly and he's said the same. We have a personal relationship and we have been sharing out opinions on the club's sporting needs for five years. He has supervised part of our work. That doesn't mean, if we don't win, Xavi's going to remain linked to me. But no one has shown as much faith in him as we have. Some say he doesn't have experience and should coach the B team, others prefer Jurgen Klopp... Let everyone explain their own project but don't be disparaging of our work with Xavi.
What are your ideas to save the club economically?
During the first 12 months, the priority is to save the club. We have an emergency plan to refinance the debt and restructure costs, starting with the wage bill. This year we predict that, if we don't refinance the costs, the club will look more than 100 million euros again. So we need to have people with credibility in the business world.
To go out and sell the club, it's important to generate excitement and play well.
Exactly. Pedri generates excitement, Ansu Fati does, even Messi does. What we want is to offer stability and consistency on the pitch, that this excitement is not just the flavour of the day.
And Espai Barça?
For us, that's urgent. We have faith that the work done in recent years is useful and can be taken advantage of and in the first 100 days if elected we will have an audit to understand the model of finance with Goldman Sachs. In the summer, we will explain the reality to the socios and have a referendum... with an electronic vote!
It's a bit late for sorting out Camp Nou if we compare with Real Madrid?
Evidently, that's why it's urgent. Any other opinion would be a lack of respect to the club's future.
What will you do if you don't win the election?
I don't know. I will think about it if it happens, but now we are 100 percent focused on winning.
