Madrid, 8 February (AFP) – Ferran Reverter, chairman of the Barcelona Board of Directors, has resigned after only seven months for “personal and family reasons”.
Revter played a key role in trying to reduce Barca’s debt has been at the center of recent discussions about a major Sponsorship deal with Spotify.
Barcelona said the resignation of Revter, who took over as CEO last July, will take effect once a replacement has been found.
According to La Vanguardia and Marca, the 49-year-old’s departure is instead due to disagreements with the club over the Spotify deal, which will bring Barcelona for three seasons, in exchange for sponsorship of the first team jerseys and as the first company to acquire naming rights to the Nou Camp.
Barca signed a kit deal with Japanese retailer Rakuten, but that contract expires at the end of this Season and Revert is one of those tasked with finding lucrative alternatives.
He also participated in the ‘Espai Barca’ project to renovate the Camp Nou. In December, club members voted to borrow up from Goldman Sachs to finance the project.
Joan Laporta said last week that the club’s wage bill had been reduced by since he took over as president almost a year ago. According to Laporta in August, wages accounted for 103% of the club’s income.
In a statement, Barcelona praised the “debt restructuring, The approval of club members for the financing of Espai Barca, the reduction of wage costs, agreements with new partners and others.”
Revert said he wanted to “devote more time to personal and family projects”. He added that he was leaving a club that “now has a top-notch management team capable of repositioning Barca as a world leader”.