"Live by the sword, die by the sword"
So finally it has happened. Rosell has announced yesterday that he will step down as President of the Club following a Spanish Court's ruling that there was enough doubt for it to start an investigation on the Neymar deal. Sandro Rosell's time at Barca would be remembered as the time where football took a back stage, and all other things were rushed to the front. His decisions has left the footballing team struggling without reinforcement in crucial areas in the field. He came to power on a huge mandate vowing to correct the club's financial debt situation( something in which still there is no clarity), reintroduce the Catalan identity back to the club and also to correct everything and whatever Laporta did. Now Laporta was no saint, but to target Cryuff in order to get one on with Laporta was cheap. And that resulted in the club Legend, Cryuff moving away from the club, that got Guardiola upset and he moved; but that was not all.
The best of Rosell's action came with the treatment of Abidal last summer. It is fair to say that Abidal was humiliated and he had to fight a bigger battle for honour with Rosell, that he had to do with his disease. That not only upset Abidal who departed for free, but also other players, with Dani Alves openly declaring the same. His tenure also saw the club becoming virtually an ally of the Al-Thani family. The club sold the shirt sponsorship for the first time in it's history. It's not the shirt sponsorship which irked many, it's the way it was carried out. They pitched the deal as similar to the UNICEF shirt sponsorship with Qatar Foundation and this year they brought Qatar Airways through the back door. Also no other club would have sold this much of Advertising space to their shirt sponsors like we did. It is to be seen how much financial influence does the Al-Thani family have in Rosell's Business interest.
By stepping down, Rosell may claim the high moral standing, but that's not going to end his problems. It looks like Rosell has to deal with another case, which is in Brazil and is about being accused of forging documents and receiving economic benefits from a friendly between the Brazilian national team and Portugal. Now it's safe to say that he has plenty at hand to deal with even without the Presidentship. He may have lost the President post but it is clear that he will still pull the strings in the club. The very fact that he has successfully paid to rest the idea of an early election and have got Bartomeu installed as the President is a testimony to that. This drama is just beginning and there could be more interesting episode left to be played.
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