Did a Real Madrid spokesperson comment that Ronaldinho is “ugly” ? Is that why they signed David Beckham?
Main Article where this apparent rumour was spread: https://amp.theguardian.com/football/2004/apr/26/europeanfootball.sport
The content of this article is one among many of the strong rumours that Real Madrid pursued Ronaldinho but they did not sign him because they thought he was “ugly” and instead they signed the “handsome and good looking” David Beckham. The earliest version of this story/article was published by the writer Diego Torres for the Spanish newspaper — El Pais.
The article above — written by Sid Lowe for The Guardian — has two interesting quotes and two interesting ways by which the writer wants us to read and interpret it.
The first quote: “Ronaldinho is ugly.”
There is no mention of who said it. Sid Lowe claims that “some bigwig” at the club mentioned this to another reporter (of El Pais). He wants us to believe it is true — okay, let us believe him for now.
The second quote: “never pursued Ronaldinho”
This quote is by Florentino Perez. But, Sid Lowe wants us to believe that Perez lied. Sid Low says we know what Perez means when he says “never”.
I am not sure if the very well known author and football writer Sid Lowe is consistent with his ways of interpreting quotes or does he want the reader to see only one side of the story? The whole article is written in such a fashion.
So, let us look at the available facts and quotes by people to see what is the truth.
What is the truth — Did Real Madrid snub the “ugly” Ronaldinho for the “handsome” Beckham?
To understand the truth, you need to know more about Ronaldinho’s & Beckham’s transfer incidents and also FC Barcelona’s presidential election. So, before we conclude anything, let us just look at facts and incidents that happened along with quotes of people. (no assumptions, no conclusions, just writing down some facts as it is).
Timeline of events:
Every point in this timeline can be proof-checked in the form of tables/results/quotes by the people who said it. The most important quotes are listed after the timeline.
A. 2002–2003 La Liga:
- Real Madrid CF wins their 29th La Liga title.
- FC Barcelona finishes 6th in La Liga — out of champions league qualification.
- Barcelona are beaten by Valencia and Deportivo la Coruña at Nou Camp by the score 2–4.
- Barcelona had fired 2 coaches in the season.
- The presidential elections are coming up.
B . Barcelona Presidential Elections:
- To win the election, one of the candidates (Joan Laporta) announced that he will sign David Beckham if he wins the election. FC Barcelona or Joan Laporta never announced they would sign Ronaldinho even though Laporta’s close associate Sandro Rosell knew Ronaldinho in person.
- Laporta wins the presidential elections.
C. David Beckham Transfer
- FC Barcelona and Man United agree on a transfer fee (undisclosed) for David Beckham.
- David Beckham refuses to sign for FC Barcelona and makes his displeasure public. (Reasons: Barcelona did not qualify for the Champions League, Barcelona could not afford his 100,000 pounds-a-week wages and his 20,000-pounds-a-week image rights fees)
- Florentino Perez enters the fray and makes an official bid for David Beckham. Beckham forces Man United to accept the deal — relationship between Beckham and Ferguson becomes worse.
D. Ronaldinho Transfer:
- Man Utd was tracking Ronaldinho as Beckham’s replacement (while the transfer talks of David Beckham and FC Barcelona was going on) and an official bid of 15.5 million pounds was made to PSG.
- As David Beckham refused to sign for FC Barcelona and as Real Madrid made an official offer to David Beckham which was accepted, Laporta knew that they could not keep the promise made to the fans.
- Sandro Rosell who was the former president of Nike Brazil and knew Ronaldinho before, hijacks Ronaldinho deal and signs him (for 25 million euros + 5 million euros)
- Man United and Alex Ferguson expressed their discomfort in such a deal at the last minute where they thought they had signed Ronaldinho.
Quotes:
- Laporta’s words in the election campaign:
“We represent a new change here, this will be a new Barcelona; with Beckham we can win titles. We will recover the mentality of the Dream Team. Beckham will put Barcelona among the best clubs in the world”.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPra5dTTado > Laporta’s press conference(Watch from 1:30 for English)
- Note that Laporta used the name Beckham and NOT Ronaldinho.
2. Laporta about ‘signing’ Beckham:
“It is my pleasure to announce that we have reached an agreement with Man Utd and we have signed a document that proves it”.
3. Quote by Sandro Rossell:
“If we get the opportunity to sit down and talk with Beckham’s representatives, we will reach an agreement”.
- Note that Sandro Rosell also used Beckham’s name and NOT Ronaldinho.
4. Quote from Lluis Bassat (who lost the election to Laporta):
“Laporta used Beckham to turn around the polls”.
5. Quote by David Beckham:
Beckham was frustrated as Laporta used his name in the political game to win the elections.
“I am very disappointed and surprised to learn of this statement and have no plan to meet Laporta or his representatives.” He said he feels like “he has been used as a political pawn.”
David Beckham also mentioned that he wanted to play the Champions league — Barcelona did not qualify for champions league.
Also, Barcelona could not meet Beckham’s demands of 100,000-a-week (pounds) wages. He also had a 20,000-a-week (pounds) in image rights.
6. Quote by Ronaldinho:
“It almost happened with United, it was a matter of 48 hours.”
“I went to Barcelona because of my friendship with Sandro Rosell.”
Rosell was a close associate of Laporta and he had a friendship with Ronaldinho previously because he represented Nike Brazil.
7. Quote by Alex Ferguson:
“I thought we had clinched the deal for Ronaldinho, but, when I flew to Paris to speak with him, the goal posts seemed to have moved somehow”
Now, some questions:
If FC Barcelona really wanted Ronaldinho, why did Laporta announce that they will sign David Beckham?Why did he not promise Barcelona fans that he will bring Ronaldinho to the club?
Why did FC Barcelona make a bid and reach an agreement with Man United for Beckham?
Why did FC Barcelona bid for Ronaldinho ONLY AFTER Real Madrid announced their capture of David Beckham?
Again, What is the truth?
The truth is that FC Barcelona wanted to sign the then star David Beckham to revive their devastating performances in the La Liga. The then presidential candidate Joan Laporta used David Beckham as a key bet to win his election campaign.
FC Barcelona desperately wanted David Beckham and had an agreement with his club Manchester United, however, Beckham refused to move to a club who was not playing Champions League football and had not enough money to pay his wages. FC Barcelona’s arch rival and the then president of Real Madrid CF, Florentino Perez, a shrewd businessman, took advantage of this scenario and signed David Beckham from Manchester United.
The desperate Laporta who could not deliver his promise to the fans of FC Barcelona took his close associate Sandro Rosell’s help. Rosell was the former president of Nike Brazil and had personally known Ronaldinho. In the late hours of the transfer window, FC Barcelona hijacked the Ronaldinho deal which was agreed between the player, his club PSG and Manchester United.
Manchester United and their coach Sir Alex Ferguson expressed their discomfort as they felt they were cheated by FC Barcelona.
If this is the truth, why did the article by Sid Lowe talk about Real Madrid or a “bigwig” from the club calling Ronaldinho “ugly”?
If Real Madrid never pursued Ronaldinho, why would they even call Ronaldinho “ugly”?
The Smear Campaign
Well, the answer lies in the fact that ONLY one newspaper (El Pais) and only one writer “quoted” that “some bigwig” in Real Madrid said that Ronaldinho was “ugly”. Who was the bigwig?
No one knows! Is there even a person like that?
The truth is that, Real Madrid CF never pursued Ronaldinho, nor did FC Barcelona. In fact, the only club who pursued Ronaldinho was Manchester United. Barcelona signed Ronaldinho out of desperation — as a last resort!
The strongly spread rumour of “Ronaldinho is ugly” as quoted by a “bigwig” at Real Madrid is a smear campaign led by El Pais and supported by the Barcelona appeaser and football writer Sid Lowe.
PS: FC Barcelona legend Johan Cryuff had advised Joan Laporta to sign the argentine Pablo Aimar instead of Ronaldinho.
