With a fax from Manchester United in their hand, nothing was going to stop Joan Laporta and Sandro Rosell in their quest to make Barca great again. They may have had no real chance of signing David Beckham but the document proved they were serious and could bring big names to Barcelona. It was the start of an era. On Thursday that era ended.
Through his previous employer, Nike, Rosell had met some very important people and he started to use them quickly. Ronaldinho was swiped from under the nose of Alex Ferguson and a new page of Barca’s history opened. It didn’t start well though and after just two years, President and Vice President would part ways and rage a war that continues today. When he left, Rosell accused Laporta of forgetting their original plan for the club and said the board ‘is not independent or transparent or democratic,’ words that would return to haunt him less than a decade later.
Rosell, whose father was a director at the Catalan club during the dictatorship, was never far from the club. In 2006 he published a book, Benvingut al món real (Welcome to the real world), which was seen as poorly timed by fans as the club were in the process of chasing their second Champions League trophy. The book was an attack on his one-time friend but Laporta went on to convincingly win another term as President in 2006.
In 2010 Rosell stood for and won the presidency. He accused the outgoing President of corruption and using the club’s money for personal reasons. He promised to investigate and if possible prosecute all those who were guilty. With Pep Guardiola on the bench and a great side on the pitch, Rosell appeared to have it easy but started to ruffle some feathers soon after taking office.
He took away Johan Cryuff’s honorary presidency. His excuses for doing so convinced no one. Cryuff had been a good friend to Laporta and Rosell wanted him as far away as possible. Rosell believed that to bring the club forward he needed to bring in more commercial deals. The sponsorship deal that would see the Qatar Foundation and later Qatar Airways appear on the front of the Barca shirt still draws criticism.
The case of Eric Abidal continues to enrage Cule fans. The defender had been promised a contract renewal when news of his cancer relapse was released but a few months later the club announced he was being let go. Rosell and his board were accused of only caring about money. Even Messi weighed in, towards the end of 2013 accusing one of Barca’s directors of ‘knowing nothing about football’.
But what that toppled the empire was the signing of Neymar. Exactly how much the club paid is still not clear. A judge has now decided to investigate and it all became too much for Rosell. He resigned but not many are sad to see him go and he knows there are still plenty of questions to be answered. It is ironic though that it was the signing of one Brazilian that kick started his time at Barca and the signing of another that would see his reign end in tatters.
