30.03.2010 17:00
Modification of supporters club regulations
www.fcbarcelona.cat
On March 26, the FC Barcelona board of directors passed the modification of the supporters club regulations that have been valid since 2004.
The new regulatory text for Barça supporters clubs came into force on March 26 after it was
accepted by the Board of Directors. The new regulations are the result of the joint efforts of the
Supporters Clubs Advisory Council, the Social Commission and the FC Barcelona Board of
Directors.
The new
text modifies some aspects of the supporters club movement, such as the requirements for creating a
new club, organisation and representation by FC Barcelona in supporters club events and supporters
club zones.
The regulations have been brought in line with the FC Barcelona statutes that were passed by
Ordinary General Assembly on August 19, 2009, and specify certain aspects of the supporters club
movement that were given a more general treatment in the previous text.
Adaptation of the regulations to the FC Barcelona statutes of 2009
Article 15 of the statutes of August 19, 2009, introduced one of the changes. This established
that supporters clubs, once constituted in accordance with current regulations and recognised by
the Board of Directors as FC Barcelona supporters clubs,
will have all the inherent rights and obligations of said condition, in terms of their
integration in the social life of the Club.
Meanwhile, article 9.2 of the statutes of July 23, 2001, indicated that once constituted in
accordance with current regulations and recognised by the Board of Directors as FC Barcelona
supporters clubs,
the Board of Directors would stipulate the rights they could enjoy in terms of their
integration in the social life of the Club.
Requisites to constitute a supporters club
The previous
supporters clubs regulations of the year 2004 already established a series of requisites, namely,
a) that the president of the supporters club had to be a member of the Club, b) that no person
could ever be the member of the board of more than one supporters club at the same time and c) that
in the case of supporters clubs with an address in Catalonia, half of the members of the board or
five members of the supporters club also had to be members of the Club (art. 4.2).
The new text includes other conditions. The most important are as follows: the supporters club
must possess its own headquarters, whether owned or rented, and if the headquarters are based in a
bar or restaurant, the owner of the business cannot, in any case, also be the president or a member
of the Board of Directors of the supporters club, no supporters club may share an address or
headquarters with another, PO boxes will not be accepted as addresses of supporters clubs, apart
from exceptional cases, the minimum distance between the headquarters of any two supporters clubs
has to be 1 km and the supporters club must designate one person as the Club interlocutor, who must
necessarily be a member of the supporters club’s Board of Directors (art. 4.3).
Minimum number of members
For the first time, the supporters club regulations include an obligation whereby supporters
clubs must have a minimum number of members in order to be constituted. The number of members will
depend on the number of people registered as residents of the village, town, city, municipality,
etc. (art. 4.3.c).
INHABITANTS
|
MINIMUM MEMBERS
|
Up to 250 inhabitants
|
12
|
From 250 to 1,000 |
30
|
From 1,001 to 2,000 |
40
|
From 2,001 to 5,000 |
50
|
From 5.001 to 10,000 |
60
|
From 10,001 to 25,000 |
75
|
More than 25.001 |
85
|
Protection of image and signs of identity that belong to the Club
These new regulations take great care to protect the image and signs of identity that belong
to FC Barcelona, use of which can only be made after making an application and then receiving
express authorisation in writing from the Club (art. 2.4 and art. 2.5).
Similarly, art. 6.2 expressly indicates that supporters clubs cannot organise competitions,
schools, clinics or similar that use the image of FC Barcelona without prior and written permission
from the Club. Supporters clubs that want to make use of them or wish to organise a sports event of
such a nature must contact the supporters clubs department. Any unauthorised use of the FC
Barcelona image can lead to withdrawal of the supporters club as an official Club supporters club
(art. 7).
Celebrations outside of Catalonia, on match weekends
The supporters clubs department had already recommended that events and celebrations held
outside of Catalonia should coincide with away matches played by FC Barcelona, and now this new
regulation has been established more specifically. Now, all supporters clubs based outside of
Catalonia that want to organise an event or request the presence of Club representatives, must do
this to coincide with an away trip of any of the Barça teams, evidently to the closest location to
their own. This favours the representation of the Club being the best possible (art.
8.5).
In the case of the 50
th and 25
th anniversary of any supporters clubs, the Club will designate the best possible
representation, always in consideration of the institutional agenda (art. 8.11.1).
Change of zones in area 2
The supporters clubs in area 2 have modified their zone numbers, and now instead of being
numbered from 22 to 33, are numbered from 22 to 34 (art. 10.3), as detailed below:
- Zone 22. Extremadura
- Zone 23. Castile La Mancha
- Zone 24. Castile and Leon
- Zone 25. Canaries
- Zone 26. Galicia
- Zone 27. La Rioja, Aragon and Navarra
- Zone 28. Madrid
- Zone 29. Murcia
- Zone 30. Euskadi
- Zone 31. Asturias and Cantabria
- Zone 32. Andalusia West
- Zone 33. Andalusia Centre
- Zone 34. Andalusia East
Although the previous regulations were successfully applied, these modifications seek to
improve operations and relations between the Club and its supporters clubs and adapt the
regulations to the reformed statutes issued last summer.