Sunday, 10 July 2011

Assembly: prior meetings with member delegates



The vice president of the Social Area, Jordi Cardoner, announced that, before the General Assembly, he will convene meetings with member delegates to provide all information on financial matters.
At the beginning his press conference, Vice President Jordi Cardoner announced that from now on members delegates will receive the information before it’s made public on the day of the Assembly. "We want to be more participatory and representative" he said. Thus, members will have more time to study and analyse the data and not just receive all the financial information on the day of the Assembly. Cardoner explained that with these meetings prior to the Assembly, the club will gain more "openness and closeness". 

The vice president reported that the Assembly will be in September or October this year and, with the aim of promoting participation, will coincide with a match-day at the Camp Nou. 
Season Tickets: novelties in change of name Jordi Cardoner also gave an update regarding the management of change of name on the season tickets at the Camp Nou. From now on, one must have been at least two years on the waiting list, a condition extra to the already existing ones. It’s worth remembering that to change a name on a season ticket, the person must have been a member for five over years, be a direct relative, and, in the case of a name change between non-family members, must have made a payment for six seasons. Cardoner clarified that this new condition is intended to prevent the marketing that takes place illegally. Tickets for Finals 2011-07-08_CARDONER_13.JPGAnother major point made by Jordi Cardoner was regarding tickets for Finals. This season, unlike what was done before, the club distributed 85% of total tickets available and only 15% went to club commitments (in previous seasons the ratio was 80% -20%). "With fewer commitments, we favoured our social collective" said Cardoner. In total, comparing the final at Wembley with that in Rome, 44% fewer invitations were allocated. Stabilising of the Social Masses Looking at the balance of the season, Cardoner emphasised the stabilising of the number of members. "We are the best club in the world and we care about quality, not quantity" he said, before pointing out that in recent years the number of members leaving the club had soared to 15,000 per year, half of them with less than five years with the club. "We want members who identify themselves with Barça" he added, giving a figure that explains the social health of the organization: the number of members who are minors continues to grow, something which will guarantee "our social strength for the next 25 to 50 years".

Barcelona and Malaga meet again on the first match-day

Pep Guardiola’s Barça will open their League campaign against Malaga, but it’s not the first time that has happened: in the 2000/01 season the two teams played against each other in the first game of the season.
Barcelona and Malaga meet again on the first match-day
Eleven seasons ago, FC Barcelona and Malaga welcomed the start of the Spanish League at the Camp Nou. The result was 2-1 in favor of Barça with two goals from Rivaldo. Now, history is repeating itself, but with several changes since then. 
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On the 21st or 22nd of August, although the exact day is not known yet, they’ll meet again, but this time the game will be played in Malaga. It also happens to be the case that last season, 2010/11, Malaga and Barcelona played the last game of the season in Malaga, which Barça won 3-1. 
Important signings 
Malaga has seen change in recent months due to the large investment made by Sheikh Bin Nasser al-Thani to strengthen the team. The aim of Malaga is to be up with the best in a short time, and this has meant the arrival of proven players like strikers Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Joaquin Sanchez, defender Joris Mathijsen, and midfielder Jérémy Toulalan. Other players have signed, who hope to make big names for themselves, like full-backs Nacho Monreal and Sergio Sanchez and Italo-Argentinian forward Diego Buonanotte. 
MALAGA-FCB_x11x.JPGAll wins in the Guardiola era 
Since Josep Guardiola took over the first team in the summer of 2008 Barça has won all the away games in Malaga. In his first season, Barça 
won 4-1 against the team then coached by Antonio Tapia. The following year, in 2009/10, Guardiola's side won by a comfortable 2-0 in a match that can be remembered for the tough marking on Leo Messi. Last season, 2010/11, the match ended in a clear 3-1 win for Barça . 

Kiko Femenía passes his medical

 

The new Barça B player passed his medical on Friday morning and declared that it’s a "unique" opportunity, coming to Barça, and says he hopes to "take full advantage of it".
Kiko Femenía passes his medical
Kiko Femenía landed on Thursday in Barcelona, and this Friday passed the medical tests. The doctors gave the OK on Femenia’s physical condiction, and he will join Eusebio Sacristan’s team in the coming days. Various tests The player from Alicante, the second signing for the B Team, following Sergio Lobato, passed a series of tests at the Hospital de Barcelona and then went to Barça’s Medical Services around 11.00. 

Femenía underwent blood and urine tests, as well as certain scans to confirm that his joints are in perfect condition. Subsequently, he passed the stress test. 
Enthusiasm and pride Femenía also admitted that one of the best memories he has had as a player was "having played at the Camp Nou last season with Hercules". With regard to his signing he said that "for me it’s a unique opportunity and hope to take full advantage of it." 

Pedro satisfied with new contract

Pedro Rodríguez signed a new contract on Thursday that keep him at the club until June 30, 2016, with a buy-out clause of 150 million. “This is great news. I am very happy to have renewed again” he told Barça TV and fcbarcelona.cat.
The Canary Islander did the duties in the club offices in the company of president Sandro Rosell, vice president Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sports Director for Professional Sport Andoni Zubizarreta. “The club still has its faith in me and that’s very important.” He said. “I am very satisfied with the way things are going. Since the very start, the directors, my team-mates and the coach have trusted in me”. 
Work and sacrifice 
2011-07-07_PEDRO_FIRMA_36.JPGThe striker, whose buy-out clause has been increased from 90 to 150 million euros, explained what the challenge ahead is. “I try to work hard all season to improve and keep helping the team. I think things are going well. I hope to continue working like this and to carry on doing good things here”. 
Room for improvement 
Pedro has scored 45 goals in the last two seasons, including one in the Wembley final, but his desire to win has not floundered. “One can always get better. And I think the team is getting more united with each season. We have a better relationship with each other and that shows on the field” he said. 
Harder each year 
2011-07-07_PEDRO_FIRMA_27.JPGAs for the forthcoming campaign, he said “we know it’s getting harder each year because teams have a greater desire to beat you and so they sign reinforcements. It’s hard, but we’ll take things a game at a time and try to win more success this season”.

tricky group




Regal Barça knows which teams it will face in the regular season of Euroleague 2011/12. They are Montepaschi Siena, Unics Kazan, Asseco Prokom, Union Olimpija and the winner of qualifying group B.
Tricky group
It might look a simple enough group on the surface, but all of these are consolidated sides with a good recent history in Europe. 
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Montepaschi Siena is a familiar foe. The side coached by Simone Pianigiani includes an ex Barça man in new signing David Andersen. The club dominated Italian basketball last season and reached the Final Four in Barcelona, going out in the semi finals.  
Trip to Kazan Regal Barça’s longest trip will be to Unics Kazan in Tartarstan, where the local side has such quality players as guard Terrell Lyday and centres Michael Wilkinson and Alexey Savrasenko. 

Barça Regal also face Asseco Prokom of Poland and Union Olimpija of Slovenia, clubs they have already played in recent seasons. 
Awkward encounters The sixth team will be the winner of qualifying group B, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy, for potential rivals include Khimki of Russia, Alba Berlin and BC Donetsk of Ukraine. Other clubs involved are Nymburk (Czech Rep), Spirou Basket (Belgium), Banvit BK (Turkey), PG Turow (Poland) and VEF Riga (Latvia). 
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The complete draw is as follows: Group A: Olympiacos, Caja Laboral, Fenerbahçe Ulker, Bilbao Basket, NGC Cantú and Sluc Nancy. 
Group B: Panathinaikos, CSKA Moscow, Unicaja, Zalgiris Kaunas, Brose Baskets and KK Zagreb. 
Group C: Real Madrid, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, Partizan Belgrade, Efes Istanbul, Emporio Armani and the winner of qualifying Group A. 
Group D: FC Barcelona Regal, Montepaschi Siena, Unics Kazan, Asseco Prokom, Olimpija Ljubljana and the winner of qualifying Group B. 

Rarely pictures for messi