The summer sunset in Barcelona shines on the sexy Santa Sebastia Beach and the white sails of the Mediterranean Sea. The magnificent colors are like a Picasso neoclassical oil painting. The gorgeous sunset is like spilled paint, sprinkled on

On the horizon, the setting sun seems to be drunk and plunges into the water, dyeing the blue ocean into a dazzling crimson.

The setting sun reflects on the huge Columbus sculpture at the end of Rambla Street, making this 60-meter-high one of Barcelona's landmark buildings so dazzling.

Because of the existence of this sculpture tower, many people who do not know much about history mistakenly believe that Columbus set out from Barcelona to the distant Caribbean. In fact, the place where Columbus, a Genoese man from Italy, went to sea 500 years ago is far away from here. The portrait sculpture

The direction his finger pointed proudly in the distance was not America.

At that time, although Europeans already believed that the earth was round, there was no concept of the Pacific Ocean. Columbus thought that the places he was going to were China and India. When he set out, he carried letters of credence from the Queen of Spain to the Indian monarch and the Chinese emperor.

Although Columbus was not the first navigator to reach the Americas, his discovery of the Caribbean Sea closely linked Europe and the Americas, ushering in an era of European exploration and colonization of overseas territories that would last for centuries.

, and only then came the Spanish maritime empire that spanned the four seas.

Columbus discovered the most economical and safest route from Europe to the Americas. His voyage also became the dividing line between the medieval and modern history of Europe. Of course, he also brought the annihilation of ancient civilizations and races to the New World, and

The African slave trade became a profitable business.

In the restaurant on the top floor of the hotel on the beach in Santa Sebastian, three cousins, Zhuo Yangkou and Joan Laporta, were enjoying the beautiful scenery of the sea while eating and chatting about Columbus in a relaxed manner.

Laporta is very happy during this period. Zhuo Yang, who joined Barcelona for a shocking price, won a championship trophy for the club in his first game. Although Sandro Rosell believed that this trophy was not difficult, even without Zhuo Yang

It is also a matter of hands-on control. This is indeed the case, but the impeachment that Russell had carefully planned for half a year was aborted, and Laporta survived the crisis safely.

This makes Laporta very happy, otherwise no one can guess what kind of choice they would make based on the urinary behavior of the members of the club.

Nowadays, professional football clubs around the world are basically divided into two types: corporate and membership. Corporate clubs have owners and shareholders, and players, coaches and staff are actually employees of the club. Most of the teams in the five major leagues fall into this category.

But when modern football clubs were first founded, they all had the prototype of a membership system. Everyone got together because of their hobbies, and from time to time they pooled some money together to run the team, and they discussed who to play with and who should play during the game.

On the field, that's pretty much it.

As time goes by, such a rudimentary football club ecology gradually becomes outdated. As a result, some wealthy people become the owners of the clubs, and wholly-owned or joint-stock football clubs are reborn one after another. Only Spanish football still adheres to the purest form.

membership model.

But by 1990, due to the deterioration of the economic environment, La Liga teams were generally struggling and seemed to be unable to sustain themselves. More than half of the clubs in La Liga and La Liga submitted bankruptcy applications to the government. What is this concept? Most clubs Players who cannot afford to pay wages are going on strike. This is considered minor. If it continues to worsen, if these clubs all go bankrupt and dissolve together, will La Liga end its life in just a few decades?

It is definitely impossible to sit still and wait for death. The Spanish government has learned from the pain and promulgated a new "Sports Law". Article 19 of it requires all professional sports clubs to transform from a membership system to a limited company. However, it also leaves a gap. If the financial situation If you show that you have made profits for three consecutive seasons, you will be allowed to retain the membership system.

In this wave of reforms, four clubs have remained unchanged, namely Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid, Bilbao and Osasuna.

The three most economically developed regions in Spain, the Basque Autonomous Province of Catalonia, Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid and Biba respectively rely on these three regions. They are also the football centers of these three regions. They have a good economic environment and Team management allowed them to avoid financial deficits. As for Osasuna, although their football status in the Basque Autonomous Province is not as good as Biba, they have been able to successfully pass the reform because they have always adopted the small-scale Xiaojiabiyu business model of living within their means. financial review.

Barcelona Football Club currently has about 120,000 members. These members are different from the members of AC Milan and Juventus. They should be more appropriately called 'fan groups'. Members of Barcelona and Real Madrid are not shareholders of the club, and the club will not Dividends, members do not receive any monetary income from the club.

After paying an annual membership fee of 130 euros, apart from the opportunity to purchase game tickets first, the biggest right of members is to elect the president of the club.

Only 120,000? It’s not that fans are not enthusiastic about becoming members, but that the club has strict access regulations. Taking Barcelona as an example, if you want to become a formal member of Barcelona, ​​you must be an immediate relative of an old member, and immediate relatives must also be ranked. Waiting, it is said that some people have been waiting for ten years.

This rule is easy to understand. If the rules are liberalized, you can become a member as long as you pay the membership fee. If a Chinese billionaire suddenly spends tens of millions on a whim to let hundreds of thousands of Chinese people become members collectively, he can easily become the president of the club in the election. What do you do when you see it?

The membership club is actually a public welfare organization and belongs to all members, so the club cannot be resold. This makes many Middle Eastern oil robes wave their money and want to buy Barcelona and Real Madrid, but they have no way to get in.

However, the biggest disadvantage of membership-based clubs is that they are prone to internal corruption, and there are a lot of behind-the-scenes operations. People who are interested really want to find trouble in this, and they can catch them accurately. This is how many former presidents of Barcelona fell. So, this time can be passed safely. With the impeachment scandal, Laporta felt relieved.

Today he invited Zhuo Yang and Kou Kou to dinner, but it was not for the championship, because Kou Kou was about to start school and would return to Hannover early tomorrow morning. Laporta would practice it for his little cousin.

Although he has experienced a sudden change from Milan to Barcelona, ​​Zhuo Yang is still contented with this summer vacation. He and Kou Kou are together every day, and they can see each other when they open their eyes every morning. This kind of happiness is endless. replaceable.

The best summer will eventually come to an end, and a better summer will soon come.
Chapter completed!