"Barça is the sexiest brand in the world of football, but no one will come knocking on your door with an 80 million euro check. It is clear that they have not done their job well," emphasizes Agustí Benedito, candidate for the presidency of FC Barcelona.

In an interview with EFE, Benedito (Barcelona, 1964) insists on denouncing what he believes has been a "deficient and passive" management of the Barcelona brand by the outgoing board; one of the main problems that the club "is not economically solid enough" to undertake large projects such as the renovation of the Camp Nou and its surroundings.

The second most voted candidate in the 2010 elections cites the sponsorship contract of Manchester United as an example, which, in his opinion, earns 81 million euros (70 for the game shirt and 11 more for training) per year.

"The Barça shirt is the most coveted in the world. To think that only Qatar has interest in sponsoring it, or that they are the only ones who can pay 60 million, is to not know the market," he insists.

Benedito is convinced that Josep Maria Bartomeu and his team have not been able to exploit "the enormous potential" of the brand of the "best club in the world."

"A global and solid marketing plan must be implemented, and instead, they have followed the tack strategy, having a world map hanging on the wall and placing tacks on it: a deodorant for 400,000 in Brazil, a beer in Mexico for 700,000, watches in Malaysia for 200,000, and in the end you say that you are all over the world," he points out.

He believes that Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, his predecessor in office, have sinned "out of arrogance" in leading the club, as demonstrated by the FIFA sanction for the signing of underage players, and the indictment of both for tax fraud in Neymar's transfer.

Furthermore, he does not understand why the outgoing president boasts about the treble achieved by the first football team, to the point of making it the hallmark of his precandidacy.

"The vast majority of culés know that the treble is not the merit of Laporta nor Rosell nor Bartomeu. Luis Enrique a bit yes, but everyone knows that the treble is a matter of Messi and the players. Any president of Barça, with Messi and a squad like this, would have won it," he insists.

That's why he does not believe that winning the three titles makes Bartomeu the favorite: "In 2010 we saw it very clearly: we voted with the best team in history, the one with the sextuple with Laporta as president, and the figure that best represented anti-Laporta, which was Rosell, swept."

Not a fan of "adventures that put the survival of the club at risk," Benedito has been one of the precandidates who has been more bellicose with the Espai Barça defended by Bartomeu, a mega-project for the renovation of the Camp Nou and its surroundings that would involve an investment of 600 million euros.

"With 600 million in total income, 490 of them ordinary, and 300 in debt, they believe they are in a position to carry out the Espai Barça. Well, I don't. The last three stadiums built in Europe have had a deviation of 40% and the club is not solid enough to carry it out without assuming enormous risks," he warns.

According to Benedito, the obsession with projecting the Espai Barça, which was endorsed by 70% of the members in a referendum, has caused Bartomeu to "forget, along the way, to do the things he had to do, like the new Palau Blaugrana and improving access and services at the Camp Nou, which have not been touched in five years."

"We will continue with the project of the new Miniestadi next to the Ciudad Deportiva, and we will build the new Palau, which will not cost less than 120 million, but will be the best pavilion in southern Europe," he highlights.

While the debate over what to do with the renovation of the Camp Nou continues, waiting to have sufficient financing, Benedito would invest around 50 million in giving the stadium a facelift, where he would install escalators and improve the catering areas, among other improvements.

He believes that the polarization of the pre-campaign - a duel between Bartomeu and Laporta - "is more media-related than real"; he reminds that he is the only one explaining a program; and he demands a greater share of protagonism based on the merits contracted. "Some media do not even respect the 8,044 members who voted for me in the past elections," he laments.

While "others only talk about names," Benedito prefers "explaining the what rather than the who," he knows that, with Laporta's entry into the elections, the dirty war has only just begun and that "if Barto could, he wouldn't even campaign," because he knows he has "a lot to lose."

He believes that "defending the Catalan identity of the club and the right of a nation to decide is not doing politics but defending a democratic principle" and, regarding the social area, he announces the creation of a fan section "with all the guarantees" and intends to encourage travel with the first team by subsidizing, if necessary, part of the travel costs.

"I will not create my own travel agency, but we will set prices to support the team on trips, as hasn't been seen for a long time. Because it is good for the image of the institution and for the team to feel accompanied," he concludes.