If the story put up by Sport.es is to be believed, FC Barcelona would be sporting a commerial advertisement on the very much reverred Blaugrana jersey in the near future. Considering the coziness between Sport.es daily and Sandro Rosell administration, this has to be seen as a definite indication to the public about the inevitable. May be Rosell is looking to measure the response of the Barca fans, or the Catalan fans in particular by putting up such a story and a survey linked to the same. By going by the latest result of the survey, only 38% of those voted are in support of the idea. FC Barcelona members has in the past rigorously opposed any move of this kind. Considering that, a 38% vote should represent a go ahead signal for Rosell to implement his latest reforms.
Sandro Rosell has emerged as a man who remains true to his word. Many commentators considered many of his election promises as something which was aimed to get the crucial votes. But he is emerging as a man who will do anything to keep his promises. Good for him. Whether it was his promise to keep the non-catalans away from the club or the promise to remove Cryuff from the honorary president's role, he has definitely kept his promises. So the latest rumours should be seen as very, very credible. The plan as reported by Sport.es is quite good. Rosell and his administartion is approaching this task keeping all options open. It looks like there is three different ideas now circulating in Barca board. The first idea is to have a commericial sponsor's name on the front of the shirt, like many other clubs. The second idea is to have the sponsor's name on theback of the shirt, probably a move to pacify any opposition. The third idea is to sell the shorts instead of the Shirt. I believe the third option will be looked upon if there is serious opposition to the idea. These ideas shows the determination of Rosell and his board to get this implemented in some way or other. In any ways the UNICEF brand name will be moved to somewhere insignificant, like on the sleeves or something.
Does the Club Member support Rosell's move to sell Barca shirt?
The first question that arises on everyones mind is whether the members would support such a move. Rosell's election platform did suggest that this idea will be looked upon if the financial state of the club is in a mess. Ideally having worked so hard to prove dubiously that Barca is close to bankruptcy, Rosell should have garnered enough support to push this through. The huge margin of Rosell's victory also should seen as a "Go Green" signal by the members for this. The last time such an attempt was made, huge pressure from Barcelona supporters forced the administration to back down. But this time such a scenario will never occur. One of the major reasons has to be the fact that we as a club has stopped believing in the heralded tradition of ours. I am not saying that we don't follow in those footsteps, but I am just saying that we don't actually believe in them anymore.
A usual rhetoric heard across the internet as an opposition to sell the shirt is that "It would make Barca look similiar to other clubs"; "or may be after that we don't be any different from the other clubs across the world". There lies the real problem. I never heard anyone supporting these traditions saying "we should follow them because it is the right thing to do". FC Barcelona, a long time ago represented a community for the liberals. but have to admit that it was a pretty long time back. Nowadays its the Catalan nationalism which drives the core of the club. Economic reality is the one which drives the club more than the social reality. Having a shirt sponsor will add a minimum of 15 million to the club's coffers and that should give more money to invest in transfer market. If the above mentioned all plans work together, we can have sponsor name on the front and back of the shirt, an like some other clubs do also on the back of the shorts. Considering Barca's world wide image, it should add atleast 30 million per year to the club. Rosell did promise this in his election agenda and the huge margin of his victory should be seen as an approval of this same idea by the fans (sorry, we are the outsiders), by the members of the club.
Are we in such a financial mess, that demand such an action? Last time when this was attempted the club members effectively tore it down saying that selling the shirt was same as "Selling the soul of the club". That won't be a problem this time around. The "Soul was already stolen" when they elected Sandro Rosell.
All About FC Barcelona
AllAboutFCBarcelona.com is a Blog dedicated to the Most prestigous Club in the world, FC Barcelona by an ardent fan. Here I discuss about the Latest happening surrounding our Club and present my Views about the same.
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