FC Barcelona CEO Reverter Reportedly Resigns Over New Spotify Deal

Ferran Reverter has resigned from his role as FC Barcelona CEO after informing president Joan Laporta of his desire to step down over personal and family reasons.

“It is now almost a year since I left Germany to return to Barcelona for family reasons and shortly after I accepted the offer that I received from president Joan Laporta to become CEO of the club,” said Reverter in a statement.

“These have been passionate months and I thank the president for his trust and, above all, his enthusiasm and capacity for leadership that mean FC Barcelona how has a first class executive team that is able to reposition Barça as a world leader. Personally I have put in much effort and dedication during these months, but I now wish to focus on the reason why I returned to Barcelona, which is to spend more time on personal and family projects”

The club publicly expressed its gratitude to Reverter for his “commitment and good work as head of the FC Barcelona executive” since being appointed on July 1 last year while helping lead the 2021-2026 Strategic Plan project that has the restructuring of its debts exceeding $1.5bn, the funding of Espai Barça, and the reduction of payroll at its forefront.

“Agreements with new partners” was also listed as another facet of the work by the club in its official announcement on this development, and reports from Catalonia have claimed that it is a disagreement in this area that has led to Reverter walking away and not the cited personal or family reasons.

According to La Vanguardia, Reverter is not a fan of the club’s alleged new deal with Spotify, which will reportedly see FC Barcelona paid $320mn over three seasons as the streaming giant acts as a shirt sponsor for the men’s and women’s teams shirts, training gear while taking over the naming rights of Camp Nou.

As the agreement is expected to be made official in the coming days, Reverter, a former CEO at Spanish consumer electronics giant MediaMarktSaturn will see his resignation come into effect as soon as a replacement has been found.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomsanderson/2022/02/08/fc-barcelona-ceo-reverter-reportedly-resigns-over-spotify-deal/