The issue was raised Toni Frieros in the newspaper Sport. Why does Laporta say that he went to Mongolia on a private trip if it's all about Barça, Barça and Barça?
Like the Trips to Uzbekistan
This exotic trip by the Barça president is reminiscent of the ones he made to Uzbekistan. Back then, he had been received like a head of state during his first term. It has everything except transparency.
There has been backlash in Barça's entourage. Membership platform Som un Clam, similar to Elefant Blau in its day and to which Laporta was related, has demanded explanations from the club.
They have only found silence in the club, however. The few details of the trip can be found in Toni Frieros's article.
Laporta travelled to Ulan Bator joined by his former brother-in-law Alejandro Echevarría. The latter is another case of someone who comes and goes within the club without being anyone. He isn't anyone associates know of.
He was also joined by his partner in the law firm, Xavier Arbós. Newspaper Sport reports that a club employee from the security department also took part in the trip. Was it a private trip or an institutional trip?
Ministers
On the treacherous social media, images of Laporta giving a Barça jersey to the Mongolian Minister of Culture and Sports, Nomin Chinbat, could be seen. Was it a private trip or an institutional trip?
Did Joan Laporta and his companions, who have nothing to do with Barça, pay for the trip out of their own pockets? Who paid for the security guard?
And why did the club assure from the outset that the trip was private?
Frieros also reported that the Mongolian news agency iKonNews reported that “having been invited by the Department of Culture, the president of the famous Spanish soccer club Barcelona agreed to meet with the Mongolian soccer Association to develop 'Barça Academy' activities. (...) In addition, they spoke about cooperating in the expansion of the 'Go Mongolia' brand, as is done with the English club Fulham”.
And there's more: Joan Laporta met with the owners of Gobi. That's a Mongolian multinational business known worldwide for its cashmere textile products.
Magnates
Press release: “ Cooperation agreement to acquire the exclusive rights of BLM (Barça Licensing & Merchandising). For the first time in Mongolia, the Gobi brand has the rights to produce and sell the products of a world-renowned club. (...) Very soon, casuals and loyal fans of FC Barcelona will be able to officially purchase special designs with their team logo in all Gobi branches.”
With Laporta you can never know. Was it a trip to close a deal with his partner Arbós and his brother-in-law Echevarría? Was it a trip in search of a boost for Barça? Or was it about taking advantage of Laporta's status as president of Barça to get something out of there?
As Frieros says, there was not a single club executive to close deals on behalf of Barça. This is curious given that it seems or it's meant to imply that they were there to transact business.
Som un Clam has reacted and demands that the president explain himself. They want to know whether it was a private trip, whether there were commercial agreements linked to the club or whether the club was simply used to reach these agreements.
The 4 questions of Som un Clam
These are the 4 questions that remain unanswered:
1. How many FC Barcelona employees took part in the trip?
2. What was the specific objective of the activities developed?
3. What is the cost of this move for the club and what kind of return is expected?
4. Why was the trip classified as private if institutional issues were discussed?
"FC Barcelona members have the right to know how and where the club resources are spent and what interests are defended in the name of the institution," they say in Som un Clam.