More Financial Trouble As Barca To Miss €20m Payment

Barca face further financial trouble after a key investor failed to produce funds to complete a vital deal, with president Joan Laporta liable.

According to The Telegraph, the Frankfurt-listed football finance company Libero has been unable to come up with the money necessary to complete the sale after agreeing to buy a 9.8% interest in Barca Vision last month. Having given La Liga a personal guarantee of €20 million (£17.2m/$21.5m) of the agreement that was essential to securing Barca’s league licence for the current season, the circumstance places Barca president Laporta in a tough position.

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The deal was a part of a string of now-famous “palancas,” or levers, agreements that provided vital short-term funding in exchange for earnings shares or sales of club subsidiaries. Up to this point, the plan has been mostly considered as successful, with a revitalised playing squad succeeding on the pitch and Camp Nou’s renovations under way off it. One key component of the approach may be in peril because Libero was unable to secure the necessary cash.

Following the international break, Barca reorganises and prepares for a stretch of three games in seven days at their new temporary home, the Estadi Olmpic Lluis Companys. After two straight group-stage exits, Laporta and the club’s accountants will be especially hoping for a smooth start to the Blaugrana’s Champions League campaign.