A Sunny Day In Catalonia
When Sir Alex Ferguson was asked by a journalist in the aftermath of the 2011 Champions League final which FC Barcelona player he would sign, he was completely thrown off guard. This was not because he did not know the answer to the question, but rather, because the answer to the question was impossibly self-evident to anyone who had even glanced at soccer — or even the sports world at large — for the years leading up to Messi’s masterclass performance vs The Devils. Sir Alex Ferguson responded that “that was one of the most stupid questions I have ever heard in my life” and answered “Mascherano” jokingly. Yet still, everyone who was watching knew his answer would have been Messi had he taken the inquiry seriously.
Messi’s story is one of how he propelled Barcelona to become one of the most storied sports brands in the world, almost on his shoulders alone. That time was dangerously close to coming to a close, as he announced his intention to leave the club. Barcelona fought tooth and nail to prevent this, and questions will be asked about the legacy of the current board and the increasing power single players can have over their clubs, almost as though they are club executives. Legal and sports governing bodies would have had contradictory interpretations of Messi’s contract situation. At the end of the day, however, Messi’s decision to stay is seemingly motivated by emotional reasons, and the club will come out stronger only if he is able to find his motivation and if Barcelona’s board is able to work with him.
The first battle that both the club and Messi’s team fought was the battle of the interpretation of his contract. Messi signed in 2017 to a four year contract ending in 2021. The consensus seemed to be that Messi was as enthusiastic for the project and the club as he was when he was much younger, and an exit clause made its way into the contract. While the club secured a whopping 700 million EUR exit clause, Messi secured a termination option should he request it within 10 days of the end of the season.
The club’s stance was that the extension deadline was firmly set to June 10th, 10 days after the planned date of the Champions League Final in Istanbul. La Liga joined Barcelona in the interpretation, promising to put their full legal weight behind Barcelona. Without a doubt, La Liga’s decision was influenced by the brand value Messi contributes to Spanish Football. Essentially, La Liga refused to unregister Messi from their Federation unless the release clause was to be paid, which can complicate matters for clubs who are interested in signing Messi.
Messi’s legal team, besieged by La Liga and his club, argued that the clause was still valid. In April, FIFA extended the season indefinitely to allow for domestic leagues and the Champions League to conclude. Legally, they would have certainly argued that the spirit of the contract was set around the Champions League final, which took place less than the magic 10 days before Messi’s announcement of intention to leave. Messi’s lawyers kept the striker from attending any practices or even club COVID tests in order to not give the club legitimacy in their argument.
Messi and Barcelona were likely highly reluctant to move the issue to a FIFA arbitration, which is high risk — high reward for both parties. FIFA is seen by some sports lawyers, namely Nick De Marco of Blackstone Chambers, as the most likely legal jurisdiction for the dispute through their resolution chamber. Barcelona would risk Messi being able to secure a favorable judgement and walking away for free, whereas Messi would risk an unfavorable judgement and being either banned from FIFA and affiliated leagues for a specified period or having to play at Barcelona and pay accrued fines during his time of not cooperating with the club. Messi has since confirmed in an interview with Goal (of all places) that the trial was a deciding factor in his staying. While Messi claims it is because of his love for the club, the implications of an unfavorable result must have been in his mind. Barcelona would have been able to recover from the judgement in a few short years, if that. Messi’s entire career would have been in jeopardy.
Ultimately, Messi and his father attempted to secure an exit for a reduced transfer fee to what would have likely been Manchester City. The meeting ended in a stalemate, and over the next few days Messi and his family had a heart to heart about the difficulties of a move from sunny Catalonia. Messi himself described it as “a brutal drama”, and spoke from the heart in regard to being loyal and staying at the club.
Barcelona, as a result of the saga, must also come to terms with its deeply complicated and muddy political climate. Sid Lowe and Fabrizio Romano write that Messi has long complained that Bartomeu is too powerful and is a king maker at the Camp Nou. The Guardian journalists suggested that Bartomeu offered to resign from the club if Messi were to stay. As of this article, that has not happened. Bartomeu has behaved controversially throughout the saga, including telling Messi he would be allowed to leave at the end of the season multiple times.
The board, should Bartomeu keep his word, would be in place until elections are held for a new president, for which the favored candidate is Victor Font. Messi spoke at length in his interview about the lack of a cohesive project at the club. For a player to do this in front of the press while confirming that they will stay at the club is extraordinarily rare, but becoming more common. Every once in a while, a player like Danny Rose will have a bombshell interview, but Danny Rose is no Messi. Even players as influential as Antoinne Griezman must be careful as he showed with this “La Decision” debacle, where he damaged his brand with fans of both Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.
The mere suggestion that a player’s departure could result in the fate of a club’s chief hanging in the balance is almost unbelievable, particularly for one of the biggest sports brands on Earth. Regardless of what happens with Messi at Barcelona, his situation will be a subject of intense debate between Font and any challengers that may emerge when they face off to lead the club in their 2021 election. Given Messi is staying, it is plausible his endorsement decides the fate of who will lead the club in years to come.
It is difficult to predict who Messi, Puyol, Xavi, and the contingent of club legends with enormous influence will side with. However, Josep Bartomeu has spent to the order of a billion dollars to deliver a squad with virtually no resell value and low prospects of winning titles as the team did just a few years ago with a squad largely coming from the clubs famed academy, La Masia. Victor Font has built a platform of supporting reinvestment in La Masia and focusing on producing talents from the club’s academy, in hopes of repeating the historic success of young club talent, and Xavi Hernandes for his part seems to support that platform.
The issue of politics with Barcelona undoubtedly calls for questions about how players can become politicians of their own clubs. Before he was beleaguered with sexual assault accusations, Cristiano Ronaldo had a feeling of indispensability to Real Madrid. Clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur may have players like Harry Kane who are so much so the essence of the club that they can wield incredible amounts of influence should they choose to. Clubs must also increasingly contend with the pros and cons of how they are governed. Barcelona, for better or worse, is a democracy among its club members, as clubs in the Bundesliga are by league rule (50 plus 1). On the other hand, clubs like Manchester City or AC Milan are owned by high net worth individuals, private equity firms, or other investment managers.
Messi can very well stay at Barcelona and influence the club and its decisions through his position as a legend. He will have to contend with the status quo of the board, but if he can find allies among the many players who have come through the club — particularly the famed La Masia — he may yet gain ground to force the club to adopt a real and forceful project that has been lacking for the term of Bartomeu. Messi, for his love of football, must also master club politics if he is to be able to enjoy both metaphorical and literal sunny days in the Catalan capital.
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