600 Barça fans attend the presentation of Víctor Font and the "Sí al futur" project

"The new way of running the Club must be as revolutionary as Johan Cruyff’s on-pitch impact was", explained the man behind the project.

Barcelona, 31 January 2019 — Over 600 Barcelona fans had the chance to be there when Víctor Font was presented, along with “Sí al futur” (‘Yes to the future’, in Catalan), the project that he is heading up. Its purpose is to offer FC Barcelona members a new approach when the next elections for the Club’s presidency are held. “The challenges that Barça face require a new way of running the Club, which must be as revolutionary as Johan Cruyff’s on-pitch impact was when he arrived in Catalonia”, explained Font. The event, which was held in Barcelona’s Auditori AXA, consisted of a conversation between journalist Antoni Bassas and Víctor Font. The pianist Ignasi Terraza and the actor Oriol Cruz also contributed to the event.

The event was fully booked weeks ago and some 600 Barcelona fans were able to attend it and hear Víctor Font get into the nitty-gritty of the key elements of his project:

• "The Club’s ownership must always remain in the hands of its members"
• "I'm talking to Xavi Hernández to convince him to head up the footballing side of the project"
• "We will completely redefine, at every level, how the Club’s decisions are made and who makes them"
• "I would like to have as many sportspeople who know and have experienced the Barça model as possible working for the Club, each of them in the place where they can best contribute to its success"
• "Sporting decisions must be in the hands of those who know Johan Cruyff’s winning legacy best"
• "We will promote an innovative participation model and we will use e-voting, so that members can take part in decision-making"
• "So that we can keep competing at the elite level, we need to reinvent the revenue-generation model. We must be able to sell goods and services directly to the Club’s millions of fans all over the world, cutting out middlemen"
• "The Espai Barça must be built for the good of the Club, but it must never compromise sporting competitiveness or, still less, threaten the Club’s viability"
• "The multi-sport nature of the Club is not up for debate. Revenue growth will enable us to strengthen some sections and create other new ones"
• "The Club should build up women’s sport with strength and conviction. There should be football, basketball, handball and roller hockey teams competing at the highest level"
• "We will greatly increase the funding for maximising Barça’s social impact in Catalonia and worldwide"
• "So that it can gain new fans, the Club should raise awareness of its history, so that it is known about and appreciated worldwide"
• "Barça’s commitment to Catalonia is absolute"

Distinguished guests

The audience at the event included the Club’s former President, Joan Gaspart; former Board members, Elena Fort, Joan Franquesa and Antoni Rovira; former Barça players, Carles Puyol, Óscar and Roger García Junyent, Gerard López and Juli López; President of the Former Barça Players’ Association, Ramón Alfonseda; former Head of Methodology at the Club, Joan Vilà; the football agent Josep Maria Minguella; the chef Fermí Puig; the former minister in the Government of Catalonia Meritxell Borràs; and President of the Global Confederation of Barça Supporters’ Clubs, Toni Guil. The Club was represented by its spokesperson, Josep Vives.

Explaining the project to Barcelona fans everywhere

Víctor Font and his team now intend to travel all over Catalonia and explain his “Sí al futur” project in person, at events similar to that held in Barcelona today. The first will be taking place in the next few weeks, in the city where he was born: Granollers.

Sí al futur also announced today that, in 2019, it will be holding single-issue reflection events open to members, which will cover e-voting and the need for female members to be involved in FC Barcelona’s governing bodies.

Any Barcelona fans who want to get involved in the project and keep up to date with what it is doing can register at the website sialfutur.cat.

11th June 2018

Víctor Font announced on June 11th last year that he would be putting the “Sí al futur” project at the service of all FC Barcelona members when the next elections to the Club’s Presidency are held. He has already said that "In the next decade, Barça will have to face up to replacing the greatest generation of footballers in the Club’s history and take on the challenge represented by competing financially with clubs owned by oligarchs and states. All that will take place against a backdrop of technology that is rapidly transforming the world we live in. If we want to keep competing at the highest level and keep the Club’s property in the hands of the members, we need an innovative and ambitious project, led by a team of talented people who have, until now, been on the sidelines of the Club’s governance".

Víctor Font i Manté

Víctor Font i Manté (born Granollers, Barcelona, 12 August 1972) is co-founder and CEO of Delta Partners, a professional services (strategic consultancy, investment banking and investments) firm specialising in the telecommunication, media, content and technology sectors. He is one of the founding shareholders of the Catalan daily newspaper Ara, published in Barcelona since 2010.

Font obtained a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and Management, and an MBA from ESADE Business School, Barcelona, and took part in an international management exchange programme with Georgetown University, Washington DC.

Before founding Delta Partners, Font was a partner at Oliver Wyman (then DiamondCluster) in São Paulo, Barcelona and Dubai, where he was appointed member of the Executive Committee for Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Víctor Font is married with three children. Font, who has lived in Dubai for the last 15 years, will move to Granollers permanently this summer.