“Més que un club”

Lionel Messi announced his decision to leave FC Barcelona at a difficult time for the club, its supporters, and wider society in the region. Toby Bryant writes about the nexus of politics and sport in Catalonia, and the value of the world’s most coveted player to Catalan identity.

October 2020

In 2004 just eleven newborns in Catalonia were named Leo. In 2019, the figure was 500. While mothers have been filling in those name certificates across the region, a certain ‘Leo’ Messi has been building a formidable legacy at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. Not once has the Argentine’s form wavered over a sparkling sixteen-year one-club career, and his place in the hearts of the Catalan people is secure. He now sits at the core of the region’s identity – symbolically, the name Leo has now usurped that of the patron saint Jordi in terms of popularity.

In Barcelona people live and breathe two things. One is politics, and the other is football. This year, disillusionment at both of these has been at an all-time high, with an independence movement in tatters and a football club whose board of directors has been plagued by controversy. The Catalan people need their diminutive on-field hero like never before. So when Messi’s infamous transfer request burofax landed on the desk of former FC Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu this summer, it sent tremors through Catalan hearts. Although the club successfully persuaded the player to stay for the 2020-21 season, it is now clear that the sun is setting on the Barça career of Catalonia’s poster boy.

The apolitical success of Lionel Messi

Catalonia is a region in which everyday life is divided by politics; even the dialect you speak can show a political leaning in the turbulent independence debate. The history of FC Barcelona has been rooted in the fight for independence since the 1936 execution of leftist club president Josep Sunyol by General Franco’s men. The team’s historical motto of més que un club is Catalan for “more than a club”, and their red and yellow away kit sees the colours of the Catalan flag proudly marched into stadia across Spain and beyond.

In recent years, FC Barcelona has been less overt in its support for Catalonian independence, although this has not stopped certain players offering their political opinions. Barcelona-born Gerard Piqué, for instance, was happily pictured voting in the 2017 referendum that was deemed illegal by the Spanish government. Messi, meanwhile, avoids what Luis Mazariegos of the fansite Barça Blaugranes labels a “hot button issue”. “As a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, he seems most concerned with helping children and is known to make donations to hospitals, most recently for the fight against coronavirus”, Mazariegos notes.

Now 33, Messi has never been one to rock the boat, which is why this summer’s uncharacteristic transfer debacle made so much noise. “For that reason, I don’t think many people dislike him for political reasons”, Mazariegos continues. “If he is disliked, it’s by rival fans – but even most rival fans appreciate him as a footballing genius.” There’s method to the silence too, according to Sociology and Politics of Sport researcher Stuart Whigham: “The thing about global superstars like Messi is that they become corporate symbols”, he says. “For someone who is as big as Messi, it’s too dangerous for the brand of Messi to get involved in those political conversations. That’s why he can avoid being attached to the ‘yes’ movement in Catalonia. If you are a Barcelona fan who doesn’t believe in secessionism, Messi doesn’t have the same symbolism as, say, a Piqué, who is quite outspoken about political views.”

As such, Messi has long been a hero that Barcelona citizens can share, no matter their political belief – he was awarded the “Creu de Sant Jordi” in acknowledgement of his service to Catalonia and the protection of the region’s identity. When the player was on the verge of leaving this summer, even Quim Torra, then President of the Government of Catalonia, dropped all political notions to thank the “noble athlete” for “all this time of happiness and extraordinary football.”

Marketing Messi – the player’s identity as cash cow

As well as the loss of his symbolic value, Messi’s departure would bring about tangible, monetary damage to the region. FC Barcelona contributed €1,191 million to the wealth of the city in 2018-19 (the equivalent of 1.46% of the city’s GDP), pulling in 1.47 million overnight stays in Barcelona. There is no doubt who the star attraction is among all this. Messi’s name is on the back of nearly half of all Barcelona replica shirts sold: 10 million units since he broke into the first team at the Camp Nou. At an average selling price of €65, that adds up to an eye-watering €650 million in revenue. Replacing Messi in these terms, let alone in a footballing sense, represents an impossible task.

“Messi’s departure would have been a blow to Catalonia as a society, but it also would have been an economic blow”, Mazariegos explains. “While the club itself would have been spared from paying his massive salary, the draw to audiences for not just the team, but the league itself would be diminished. After Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar left, La Liga’s star power was mostly just Messi. In normal times tourism would also be affected; a lot of people make pilgrimages specifically to watch Messi play one game.” Fans may turn hopes to rising starlets Riqui Puig and Ansu Fati, but the sheer weight of expectation has overwhelmed the likes of Bojan Krkić before them – a task “difficult not to call impossible” as far as Mazariegos is concerned.

Something is rotten in the state of Catalonia

Losing Lionel Messi at any point would leave a hole in the region’s identity, but losing him in 2020 would have left a crater. This is because of the sudden downturn in political and football fortunes in Barcelona after a period of great success. For a decade, the independence movement had picked up seemingly unstoppable momentum. 1.6 million demonstrators formed a human chain around the Catalan border in 2013, Barcelona’s streets were shut down in the shape of a ‘V’ for ‘vote’ in 2014, and large-scale marches followed in 2015 and 2016. Independence referenda in 2014 and 2017 indicated support of 81% and 92% respectively in favour of the ‘yes’ movement. If you’re not talking politics in Barcelona, meanwhile, you’re talking football. Over the last ten years, FC Barcelona has picked up six La Liga titles, five Copa del Rey wins, two UEFA Champions League titles, and brought home the FIFA Club World Cup twice. Success was everywhere.

By 2020 however, those two wings which flew Catalan identity to new heights had caught fire. Protests against the arrest of independence leaders in 2018 turned violent, and trade union strikes ground the city to a halt. It was much the same story the following year, and Torra was forced to separate politics from the violence as it all got too much. Pro-independence voters have become disillusioned with the system. Indeed, the Catalan government’s Opinion Studies Centre reported a lowly 40.8% support for independence in February 2018. People are realising that violence and illegal referenda will not win Spanish government support.

Disillusionment is also rife at the Camp Nou. The board’s short-term transfer planning has inevitably stalled progress and frustrated fans, and Liverpool FC’s shock overturning of a 3-0 Champions League deficit at Anfield in May 2019 – one of a series of ignominious exits from Europe’s premier competition – stoked the fire and proved to be a turning point. “Barcelona have had the best team for decades”, Whigham reflects. “Naturally these teams have cycles and when they tried to replace the team of Xavi, Iniesta, Piqué, Messi – they’ve invested in superstars and that’s backfired.” Consequently, six board members resigned in April this year amidst claims of mismanagement. At the end of October, Bartomeu was added to that list as he stepped down before a vote of no confidence could force him to do so – the latest clásico defeat to Real Madrid proving the final straw. The football club is at the core of Catalan identity, and the core of the club is rotting.

Lionel Messi, the last glimmer of hope

As such, Messi’s stock as a unifying figure is more important than ever. Catalonia is suffering an identity crisis and Messi is emblematic of its success and progress in recent decades. When the star announced his desire to leave, that final pillar started to crack. Whigham notes the interrelation of politics and sport at this time: “If you take that mixture of general disillusionment on the political side of things for Catalonia and then the disillusionment in the sporting sense, this mood of pessimism almost feeds into one another. I’m not saying that FC Barcelona’s decline has got anything to do with political decline, but that kind of feel-good factor or optimism has been lost on both sides of things.”

It is upon those foundations laid at the start of Messi’s career in 2004 that the modern identity of FC Barcelona has been built. During those sixteen intervening years, fans have turned to their messiah for his outstanding consistency in a shifting political landscape, and when he leaves, that rug will be pulled from under the Catalan people’s feet. Just how painful the fall is, we will soon see.

Words: Toby Bryant | Imagery: Imago; Offside