Joan Laporta, one of the leading figures in Barcelona‘s ongoing presidential race, made headlines today with a massive banner depicting his likeliness just over 100 metres from the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.
Laporta is currently touring Spain to rally Barcelona members scattered all over the country and intended the banner to serve as a tongue-in-cheek statement of intent.
Jokingly, he conceded that he may have inadvertently angered Real Madrid president Florentino Perez in the process.
“I’m sure Florentino has taken it with sportsmanship,” Laporta said in comments carried by Diario AS.
“I know he has a good sense of humour. I don’t know how I would cope if Florentino put a poster of himself next to Camp Nou. I’d have to see exactly what he says, but I think he also has a sense of humour.”
Laporta, who’s schedule to travel to Malaga and Granada tomorrow, wanted to underline that his priority as Barcelona president would be to return pride to the club’s supporters.
“It’s an action typical of our style, to restore pride to the fans,” he said. “It’s ironic, a manner of being subtle. I think it’s a clever action.”
Laporta also wanted to make clear that there was no intention of offending anyone but an ambition to promote his candidacy in Madrid, where many Barcelona members reside.
Victor Font, another frontrunner for the Barcelona presidential elections scheduled for January 24th, replied to Laporta’s initiate on social media.
“You’re the f****** master at this, but the truth is that with banners neither sporting nor economic issues are solved,” Font wrote. “Only projects can do that.”
Laporta previously served as club president between 2003 and 2010, overseeing the construction of one of the greatest club teams in football history alongside Pep Guardiola.
Laporta and his team have positioned themselves as a group of Barcelonistes who understand the feeling of the club better than most and will endeavour to return the club to its fundamental values of prioritising social and human values as well as economic and sporting ambitions.
They also intend on placing renewed emphasis on La Masia and Barcelona’s responsibility of projecting Catalonia to the world as well as increasing economic responsibility and sporting ambition according to his campaign website.
Featured image courtesy of FC Barcelona Noticias.
