FC Barcelona president Laporta has announced that the club's general meeting will be held online. The decision sparked harsh criticism from former Barcelona presidential candidate Fonte.
Fonte noted that in the current favorable sporting climate, this should have been the perfect opportunity for President Laporta to respond boldly and transparently to issues that frequently damage the club's reputation. However, the decision of the online membership meeting left him disappointed.
He emphasized that the state of the club's management today is in dire need of a more transparent and less secretive general meeting. Font argued that members should have the right to raise all their concerns directly with the President, and that the online meeting format greatly limits member participation, which is a very serious mistake.
Fonte further noted that the meaning of "more than a club" is that the management and governance of the club should be based on the core values of transparency, good governance and accountability, rather than on opacity and half-truths. The full implementation of the online general meeting is, in his view, a departure from these core values.
He questioned President LaPorta's motives, asking, "What is President LaPorta afraid of?" Font argued that presidents and boards should be courageous in confronting questions and criticisms from the membership, rather than choosing to avoid or limit the membership's right to speak out.
