Joan Laporta will be officially sworn in as the new Barcelona president on Wednesday after securing a deposit of €124.6m for the club.
As per the Catalan club’s regulations, a newly-elected president must guarantee 15 percent of the club’s budget in a payment prior to his official inauguration.
It has been reported by Catalan media outlet Expansion that €30m of the payment was pledged by the CEO of Mediapro Jaume Roures.
The Catalan Roures owns a 12 percent share in the media company Mediapro, who are a prominent TV company who work in hand with La Liga and who also own the Público newspaper.
But Roures is much more than just a media mogul – he is a businessman, a film producer and a political activist.
Roures has a long history of left-wing politics and is a strong advocate of Catalan independence.
He was twice arrested under Spain’s Franco dictatorship and once spent time behind bars due to his membership of trade union Comisiones Obreras.
That Mediapro were unable to fulfil two of their pre-agreed four-season contract with Ligue 1 after just a few months earlier this season may well raise questions regarding this agreement, although a personal payment commitment is of course separate from that of the business.
