The Barcelona club has seen the sale of 475 VIP boxes called into question. La Liga has presented allegations to the High Council for Sport (CSD), which questions the legality of one of the two operations carried out by the entity, and which relates it to the close circle of the club’s directors. This information was revealed by the media outlet “El Confidencial”, which refers to the lack of transparency in relation to the buyers of the boxes.
Key operation for the registration of Dani Olmo
Barcelona used the income generated by this transfer to register players such as Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor. Specifically, LaLiga has questioned the second of these transactions –28 million euros-. The amount allowed them to obtain precautionary measures from the CSD, thus preserving Olmo’s income as they were unable to count it towards the salary cap. LaLiga claims that it does indeed come from a network of companies closely related to Barcelona.
Barcelona and the opacity of the buyers of the VIP boxes
The Barcelona board has chosen not to reveal the buyers of these VIP boxes in the long term, for a total of 100 million euros. However, the document was delivered to LaLiga, which has been used to file complaints. According to El Confidencial, the figure for the first part of the operation, in which Forta Advisors, a firm associated with the Qatari royal family, has advanced 30 million euros, is valid. The second part, which refers to the remaining 28 million, has its origin in New Era Visionary Group FZ-LLC, a company established in Ras Al-Khaimah (United Arab Emirates), with direct connections to the club.
This firm, according to El Confidencial, has its headquarters in a coworking space and is run by the Moldovan Ruslan Bîrlădeanu. In June 2024, its subsidiary and affiliate was incorporated as New Era Visionary Group Iberia S.L., with its registered address in a private home on Rambla Onze de Setembre in Barcelona, the same residence as Francisco Maza Sánchez, who acts as administrator together with Bîrlădeanu.
The relationship between New Era and FC Barcelona is reinforced by the direct concession of the 5G SA network of the new Camp Nou, a project with Orange. New Era is in charge of integrating the infrastructure, although the provision of services is not defined. It is worth recalling the failed Barça Visión movement in which Aramark injected 15 million to keep the club’s accounts afloat.
Barcelona’s links with New Era
Despite the fact that New Era claims to be a top-level benchmark in the telecommunications sector, its only client reference is Barcelona. For his part, Ruslan Bîrlădeanu himself has enjoyed prestige for this collaboration, to the point of participating as a speaker at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with FC Barcelona itself. His business experience does not hide the fact that he was a director of Stars Save Lives LTD together with former player Dani Alves. This information has alarmed LaLiga, which believes that these operations distort competition and harm the clubs that adjust the salary cap as much as possible. The final decision is in the hands of the CSD, which will determine whether LaLiga’s allegations are sufficient to take action against Barça.
The case remains open and Barcelona has not given any public explanation about the questions posed by LaLiga or how to characterize the type of relationship it has established with New Era Visionary Group. The club’s transparency is being questioned as accusations of alleged favoritism between business activities once again cast a shadow over the actions of Joan Laporta.