Former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart explains his ‘biggest fear’ about the club

Catalan channel 8tv have released an exclusive interview with former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart where the Spanish Businessman speaks about the club’s current state.

The 77-year-old was in office between July 2000 and February 2003, long before Barcelona’s golden era.

Gaspart claimed that with him as the president of the club, Lionel Messi would have still been a Barcelona player. However, he also said that this move would have been a ‘mistake.’

“With me as president, Messi probably would have stayed. But now, looking back at it, I would have made a mistake. His renewal was not economically feasible.”

He continued: “If I ran for president again, not even I would vote for myself. I love Barça too much for that. A crazy goon like me can’t be the club’s president.”

The former president then revealed his biggest fear about Barcelona’s future. It was not the sporting project but the idea of the club becoming corporately owned as opposed to the member-owned model today.

“I love Barça too much. My biggest fear is that it becomes a ‘SAD’ (owned by a corporation, not the club’s members). Also, it worries me that everyone can become a soci now, we have to keep the essence of the club intact.”

During his talk, he also addressed the topic of Josep Maria Bartomeu and extended support to the former president. He said that he was sure of Bartomeu not doing anything illegal during his tenure. However, he did push the blame on other board members.

“I would bet that Bartomeu did not take any money from the club, nor did he do anything illegal. As for the other 1,000 employees, I don’t know them.”