Barcelona paid 1.5 million euros to the Club Esportiu Laietà during the presidency of Josep Maria Bartomeu for possible annoyances of noise, dust and traffic of heavy machinery without knowing if they would occur due to the demolition of the Miniestadi, which was adjacent to this sports club and began to tear down at the end of 2019.
As reported by the ‘Què T’hi Jugues’ program of SER Cataluña, which was able to access the two contracts, they caused an internal complaint on April 20, 2020 to the Compliance department (in charge of controlling the internal procedures of the Barça entity) , which was then still led by Noelia Romero, who began an internal investigation into the case shortly before she was fired.
This was the only compensation that was paid to the surrounding entities and residents, who considered the inconvenience during the demolition of the Miniestadi as practically non-existent, which meant that they did not ask to be compensated financially.
Municipal sources explained that “this type of agreement is not usual, because it is strange to pay compensation without damage having occurred, much less conditioning it on not being able to present allegations in the future.”
Sources from the current board of directors of Joan Laporta consulted by EFE explain that “the contracts are not understood and neither is the benefit that this brings to Barcelona.”
The 1.5 million euros were divided into three payments and the first two were made on October 11, 2018, one destined to the Club Esportiu Laietà and the other to the Private Foundation Club Esportiu Laietà with amounts of 561,807 and 421,925 euros, respectively. .
In the contracts with Laietà and its Foundation (both signed on November 14, 2017), the concept of the first two compensation is the possible nuisance of noise, dust and heavy machinery.
Both were signed by Barça by the financial director Pancho Schröeder, the former CEO Óscar Grau, the former financial executive Montse Font, the former director of legal services Román Gómez-Ponti and the former director of Espai Barça William T. Mannarelli. Its president, Domingo Goenaga, signed for Laietà.
«The scope of execution of the Modification of the General Metropolitan Plan (MPGM) does not affect the estates and facilities of the Esportiu Laietà Club, but it is possible that during the execution of the corresponding works, even meeting all legal and security requirements, generate negative externalities (such as noise, dust, heavy machinery traffic on nearby roads …) ”, it is written in the contracts.
But sources in the Bartomeu board familiar with the case argue that the reason for the compensation was that the club made a mistake when designing the MPGM for the new design of Espai Barça.
Specifically, according to these sources, the error consisted in drawing the boundary line of his farm too close to the Laietà property and, to avoid allegations to the MPGM and gain time before the public administrations, those in charge of Barça decided to reach an agreement with the neighboring entity.
Apart from Laietà, no other business, entity or community of neighbors close to the Miniestadi land has received any compensation for these possible inconveniences.
In fact, the community of residents of the block located on the corner of Cardenal Reig street and Arístides Maillol avenue (in front of the land where the Miniestadi was) considered them as minimum according to neighborhood sources once the demolition was carried out between the end of 2019 and early 2020.
Asked the entities for the reason that led them to sign two separate contracts, signed on the same day and with the payment also made on the same date, both Barça and Laietà refuse to make any type of declaration on the grounds of contractual confidentiality criteria. .
Barcelona’s third payment to Laietà, which took place on October 21, 2019, has a different concept despite appearing in the same contract. In this case, the agreement was so that the workers and athletes of the Barça club who regularly use the facilities of the Palau Blaugrana could make use of those of the Laietà from the moment the works began on the pavilion.
But, despite the fact that these works have not yet begun to this day, the payment was made a year and a half ago, and the club has at no time communicated to its workers and athletes that they can make use of the Laietà facilities . EFE. (JL).