WE HAVE ALREADY VOTED

Finally, yesterday, on Saturday, April 5th, the "socis" (members/owners), of the club voted in the referendum for the reform of Camp Nou. Some considerations:

1) Democracy is the government of the majority. Therefore, the final result ( 72%-25%) in favor of YES clearly states what is the thinking of the majority who went to vote.

2 ) Democracy, but, is also to respect minorities. An important group of voters (about 10,000), disagreed. Must be taken into account. And those who have done so have not had the means (or economic or propaganda), to do so. Reflect on the issue, because if they had been, it is possible (not sure if probable), that the result would not have been with so much difference, at least.

3) That said, the Board must make a thought: Why vote only 38,000 people when there were 81,000 at the match? Except for those regulatory issues (age, seniority as members), or those who bought tickets, I'm sure there were a large number of people who did not vote. Why?

4) The Board should also think about those members residing away from Barcelona (wherever they are ), to participate in these acts, whether voting by mail , electronically. For many people, unable to do so, means they only pay, but do not decide. In fact, they have said they are working on it. The sooner they fix issue , the better for all.

5 ) The Board should be clear that many of those who voted YES disagree with the last movements/facts of the Club, especially with the FIFA case.

6) With this, I think there could be people who is interested in that certain things at certain times are known. I do not know if the hand is white, black or only has four fingers. But what is certain is that from the Club, nothing has been refused from what was said . And, we have Club and/or officials punished and/or imputed, both for Civil and Sport Justice. And that, for those who love the Club, we do not like it. Absolutely nothing.

7) It is also true that many of those who voted NO,  did it as a "punishment voting" against the way of acting of  the Board. In fact, many of these, among whom I count myself, believe that we must reform the Camp Nou, but not in the way that has been raised around. And if according to some media, yesterday's referendum was plebiscitary referendum, well, many will have to consider why there is such a large group of malcontents.

8) Remember that Vice-President Faus said there was a Project and Measurements where made and architects contesting to the International Competition should comply with it. We'll see what happens.

9) "La Masia is not touched" I think we have it all very clear. The banner at the Camp Nou yesterday left over, especially when it seems that no one in FIFA has said anything about it. What Barca should do is go hand in hand with Real Madrid, Bayern, Chelsea, Milan, etc. to  ECA (European Club Association), and talk to UEFA and FIFA about the adequacy of the Regulations. But for all. Request preferential treatment for being Barça when there are many clubs (and football as itself), that can have a proffit , I think is, at least, overly prepotent.

10) I did not understand the role of potential candidates for future elections. Except Agustí Benedito, and this one just three days before voting, the other " possible future candidates" have not shown signs of life, except something in social networks. I suppose someday we will explain. They have to do well, but, because I do not think this is the best way to win votes in the future.

11) Finally, nobody has to think that there will be no support for the team and that we want it to lose. To be critical with the way to play several days, as to be critical with the Board, does not mean to be against as "modus operandi ". Although many interpret in that way. We want Barca to win, because it is our feeling.

And, as I have said many times, with feelings you do NOT play.

Jordi Pascual

You can follow me on Twitter: @JordiPascualP

I WILL VOTE NO

Finally, the Board of FC Barcelona has said its word on the subject of Reform/Enlarging of the Camp Nou. Beyond staging, very poor with that table where not fit all and it seemed that someone would come out at any time, that cocky fixation ("Next Question"), when they were questioned about the case of the signing of Neymar, Club representatives (Rosell, Faus, Moix, Freixa) , gave their reasons for voting in favor of reform.

They got theirs. I have mine, but to vote against it, as I guess you can also do the day of the consultation.

The first thing to be clear is that I am in favor of a reform in the Camp Nou. As I once said, I've seen a few stadiums in Europe, and the standards they have and, in most of the case we are talking about Clubs with lower level than Barça, are much higher than we have here. At all levels: Wi- Fi connections, Restaurants, Shops, etc.

That said, I will vote NO, because I have no more options to choose from. The Board dismissed a number of options. Why them? Why not we, the Partners, the owners of Club? On what basis they decide which options should we vote? If you have more than one, show them and then we'll decide what we want to do. And if you want to make easy, 3 options: New Stadium, Reform, Do nothing. And with the one that wins, we will decide what type of action. Now, this of "or this or nothing" does not seem the most appropriate.

I will vote NO, because the purpose of the reform (said by the same officials) is to increase the hospitality (VIP seats, so we understand), at match days and thereby make more money. That is, the most important thing is not the comfort of the fans, assumed that in a reform of this type should be the starting point, but cash on hand. No matter if the share-holders have more or less space to sit. Important that there are people on match days, that I bet what you want, what matters is to do business and not supporting the team.

I will vote NO, because the day of the vote you will have not seen any plans or diagrams or anything. There will be a model, it will be very nice, I guess, but we will not know how we will be distributed, who will change place due to works (temporarily or permanently), or who will have better location at no cost. I mean, first say YES or NO, to a work of 600M € and then we'll see how we do. Can anyone imagine ordering a house without a Project from an Architect? Well that's what we'll do. And think one thing. There must be a project for the Stadium, one for the new "Palau Blau Grana", one for the Annex to the Palau, one for Spatial urban environment, one for each building to be done, etc. Obviously, this will not be done for the 5th or 6th of April, neither 1 month earlier, which is the period that the members should have, at least, to watch and discuss. We will not see nor be no debate. Let us be clear .

I will vote NO, because it means the end of the Club as manager of its assets. It was said yesterday. Concessions for 50 and 99 years!!! All life. I think that nobody of us will be here to explain when these concessions are finished. The Management Club becomes external. Right now, you have the season-tickets, or Bar or services, catering at the Honor Box. Now, they will sell all new beverage services, and what isneeded. In fact, one of the companies responsible of the Reform Study (or rather, the one that made the study) is AEG, a specialist Sports facilities management company. For those who do not know, AEG is owned by the same sponsor that we carry in our shirt (part of the deal at the time?).

I will vote NO, because the Camp Nou can not have "surname ". Moreover, the figures given seem very out of market. Allianz pays 30M€ to have, for 30 years, its name in the stadium of Bayern. Here, 150M€ only for the "surname" ? Nobody believes it. And let no one confuse sentimentality with realism. Because they have said the Heritage Club is not sold and that all would be financed with own money. That is, the name of the stadium isn't Heritage, is it? The money obtained from the sale of the "name" is own money? I have not studied at ESADE and no place of these, but my knowledge of economics tell me that this is NO own money.

I will vote NO, because when Sandro Rosell ran for the presidency, said that the so called "Foster Project" was economically unfeasible (it was estimated around 300M€) and said that with an investment of 70M€ he could make the needed reform to adapt the Camp Nou. It turns out that the investment will be around 600M€ and that this amount is acceptable. Does anyone believe it? So much have been arranged for club finances that we can now afford this expense?

I will vote NO because the Board has no credibility. We have been fooled at all and they are cheating. The signing of Neymar is the latest episode. How can a journal go saying like "El Mundo" siad on Monday (20-1-2014) and did not go to the courts to quickly add a complaint? I just comes to my mind a solution: what they said was true and, if not, you must respect your name and the entity that you represent and act accordingly. And they have not. Maybe because they can not.

I will vote NO, because it does represent much more than a reform of the Stadium. It represents everything I 've said before, and much more. It represents to sell our soul and the club is not a Corporation. Barca is something ( much) more than that and, you can't play with feelings.

A final consideration. I am neither "pro" nor "anti" anything or anyone. In 2003 I voted Bassat ( He had Pep Guardiola as Technical Director). In 2007, I voted Laporta, because I understood that he was doing very well. When the non-confidence motion, I gave support to it , because I thought that the image he was selling was too far from the one that the President of Barça must show. I voted Rosell when he submitted, because I thought he was the best of all candidates and, if tomorrow we have a new motion of non-confidence to vote (something almost impossible with the new By-Laws, but that's another story), also I would support it. So clear.

Let's be clear. I will vote NO to this reform because we do not deserve it.

Jordi Pascual

You can follow me on Twitter: @JordiPascualP

P.S. By the way, does anyone remember if yesterday there was any comment about the kids?

THE REFORM OF CAMP NOU

Tomorrow, Monday, January 20th, 2014, the Board of Barça will meet and, apparently, there will be a decision about the future of Camp Nou: Reform or New Stadium. So far, the arguments that have appeared in the press could be signed by a 4 year old kid: "If San Mames was demolished, why not the Camp Nou", "It will be much more comfortable", "This is very old " "The renovation work would be an inconvenience for the Socis (Share-holders)", etc.. The fact is, however, nothing has been said about this reform: what will be and, or how it will. All we know is the approximate price: Reform: 600M€; New Stadium: 1200M€.

I shall not value what the Board said when elections on reforms and similar. Not my idea. I'm much more on what and why, in my view should be made to adapt the Camp Nou to the current requirements .

The first thing to consider is that the "letitmotiv" of Football stadiums were to watch games. Nothing more. This has changed: now, they are places to do business or, bring the family to spend the day. Therefore, what is needed is for people to be 1-2 hours before and to leave 1-2 hours after the game.

I've been in some stadiums in Europe. The first thing about the Camp Nou in favor is the immense space around what is the building itself. Neither Alvalade XXI, nor St. Jakob, nor Old Trafford, nor Aviva (Dublin), etc. have it. The esplanade behind the area "Lateral" (opposite the Main Grandstand), does not exist in any of these venues. And, this should be exploited. I recommend that anyone who can, go to Oslo, at the National Stadium, where, incidentally, Barça played this summer, and you can see that even there is a Hotel behind the stadium, which communicates with it and is used for the concentrations of the National team. It was a place to have a very clear idea of ​​the things you could do with the space around the stadium.

Then we have the lower side of the Stadium. In all these places, this area is full of shops, bars and restaurants. But, at Camp Nou, the area is just to access the seats and many of the doors are closed (for this about saving money). Couldn't they reorganize these spaces? The non-used gates are removed, 4-5 gates are put together and the remaining space can be used.

Let's go inside. The "Lateral" area (which is the one I know best), historically had 22 seats per row. It was right. The previous Board (Joan Laporta ), decided to put one more seat per row. They are 23. Now it is quite uncomfortable (tight). The worst thing is that the current Board (Sandro Rosell ), has not changed it. If you want commodities, 21 would be a suitable number, 20 would be more than fantastic. Today, you can not even move without taking a hit to the neighboring seat .

Then there is the whole area inside the Camp Nou, under and behind the stands. Today (and always), there are only 4 bars with exorbitant prices, with quality and quantity of a product that are not up to what the modern stadiums need. In all these places we have said (and many more) , all these areas are closed, with Restaurants and Bars with chairs and seats, where people can talk freely before and after the game. Where you can eat (snacks, meals, etc.), sitting comfortably and with prices (taking into account the difference in living standards between most of these countries and ours), far more affordable than here. But far more. And they remain places of passage to go from one part of the Stadium to another. That is, that the function of corridor is not lost. This is the more wasted space in the Camp Nou and the most exploited elsewhere. Given that the Camp Nou has three levels (rings), imagine the amount of dead space at the stadium. By the way, taking advantage of this, you could make a much more suitable toilets. Some 3rd Division stadiums have them much better.

At the time of Núñez, some "VIP Boxes" were built in the area of ​​the 2nd level. In many of these stadiums we have said, these areas for Sponsors and similar have a previous space where this people can sit quietly and do business or talk about what is appropriate. As we are saying, is about taking profit of all the spaces. Do we have to demolish some stairs or change them of place? Let's do it. Rearranging interior spaces is, as already stated , the great problem of Camp Nou.

In the main stand behind the bench, there is a kind of " VIP Box", since the capacity of the "Honour Box" is not very large. In every stadium that I know, these areas are located on the back, not in front. Basically, for two reasons. One is that, if it rains, people do not get wet. The second, that they have access to the Bar where they can take a drink quietly and watching the game if appropriate. Again, use of interior spaces.

There is a point that has also been discussed many times: Cover or not cover all the stands of the stadium. I support it. First, when it rains or is cold is much better. And if we are talking of commodities for the people who will watch the game, this is one. It is true that we do not have the weather they have in all these places located farther North, but to be under the rain, when you can not even open the umbrella because you are annoying your neighbor (back to the 23 seats)... The second reason is the sound effect. Any of these stadiums I have said have an incredible sounding. One of the reasons that makes listening to "You'll Never Walk Alone" at Anfield or Celtic Park, and the songs of the supporters of Borussia at the Westfalenstadion put the willies is the wonderful sound effect, as the cries of the people bounce off the deck and back into the field, multiplying the effect. At the Camp Nou, much of the noise is going to air. And surely, the neighborhood  would also appreciate, as it would a lot less of noise going outside.

All of this, however, nothing has been explained at all. Only that the reform will bring inconvenience for the fans. We already know all. But if it is not explained why and how you want to do, it seems that this is the excuse for a new stadium.

And if it is really needed to do it, let's do it. But it seems that there is no interest in adapting the Camp Nou to European levels. It seems that it has to be new, yes or yes, and I do not buy that. They have to show us all drawings, studies, etc. because after all, as I have said many times, the "owners" of the Club are we, the Socis.

Jordi Pascual

You can follow me on Twitter: @JordiPascualP