Speaking at a press conference addressing Barcelona’s finances for the end of the 2010-11 season and presenting its budget for 2011-12, Faus said the club’s position had improved but more work must be done. Barcelona currently has a net debt of Eur364 million and Faus stated that reduction to a level of “just over Eur200 million” is the target. “We followed an austere line, we’re committed to growth and we’ve reduced the debt, but we’re still in a delicate situation,” he said.
“The debt is still too high for us to be able to dictate our future. We can’t afford to owe so much money to the bank, and we need to generate more income,” he added. Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has already warned the club risks falling behind its major rivals should members vote against its record-breaking shirt sponsorship deal with the Qatar Foundation. In December Barcelona announced the five-year, Eur150 million deal with the Qatar Foundation for it to join Unicef as the club’s shirt sponsor from the 2011-12 season.
However, the agreement has sparked controversy with thousands of the club’s fans signing a petition in an attempt to see the deal revoked. The petition, expressing the fans’ “strong opposition to the decision about another logo on the jerseys of our football team”, is set to be put to the vote on September 24. Faus said without the Eur30 million the club is set to make from the deal this season it "would suffer losses".
Faus maintained the importance of Barcelona not relying too much on the banks, but revealed that debt levels have been reduced from Eur430 to the current Eur364 million in one season. He added: “It’s not the debt that we want, and we have to reduce it further, to sustainable levels, with regard to the cash flow generated by the club. We’ll continue to work on it.” Looking to the current season, the club has budgeted for a profit of Eur20.1 million, revenues of Eur461.1 million and costs of Eur430.2 million based on targets of successfully defending its La Liga title, and reaching the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League.
