By David Gold at the Dolder Grand in Zurich
November 8 – Barcelona President Sandro Rosell has claimed that the European champions are not run like a business and that they “do not want profits”.
“Barcelona is not a business, it is a feeling,” he said at the International Football Arena conference here.
“We are not managing [the club] as a business, our [net profit] at the end of the year has to be zero.
“It is why it is different…for many teams it is true that you have clients in China or wherever.
“For Barcelona, we have owners, members and feelings.
“Our roots are that we are a Catalan club with more than 100 years of history.”
He also ruled out any possibility that Barcelona, who are owned by members who vote for their President, could ever be sold to a private owner.
“I have to take care of Barcelona.
“While I am President of Barcelona we will never be for sale.
“Never.
“Never.”
His comments came after Paris de l’Etraz, a professor at IE Business School, had said that leading football clubs such as the La Liga champions were missing out on potential revenues.
“Aren’t we in denial of the inevitable a bit here?” he said.
“When I left banking I had the fortune to take Barcelona to Japan for three years and I saw the power of the fans there.
“I tried a lot to take AC Milan but because of the schedule it is very difficult; [but] they are the second most popular brand in Japan.
“Is the local character of the team going to become a problem?
“Does a fan in Shanghai have fewer rights than one in Madrid?
“Take Rafa Nadal [the 2008 and 2010 Wimbledon tennis champion], he is very Spanish, but he is a global player, and probably spends more days outside of Spain than inside.
“Barcelona is a brand that millions of people feel is their own.
“If [football] is a business are we not leaving money on the table?”
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