Alfons Godall, senior vice-president of FC Barcelona, is determined to pick up the gauntlet that Joan Laporta once threw and be one of the ‘continuity’ candidates in the next election for president of the Catalan club, according to Catalan paper Sport. The other, as is known, is Jaume Ferrer, who will also assume that candidacy unless in the end they can come to a consensus, according to Catalan sports paper Sport.

Godall, who reversed his initial position when he told his fellow board members that he would not seek to be Laporta’s chosen ‘successor’ earlier this year, will now choose Xavier Sala i Martin to be his right-hand man, the renowned economist, who for various reasons, has been a cause of the schisms that exists on the board since the first day that he joined Laporta.

Besides Sala i Martin, Godall is also supported by Joan Oliver, the club’s corporate general manager, who, by commissioning the famous safety audits of the four vice-presidents, had become the center of all criticism.

Today will hold the first board meeting of FC Barcelona since the security audits came to public light, which for many people, as being pure and simple, the spying into private and professional lives of vice-presidents Joan Boix, Alfons Godall, Joan Franquesa and Rafael Yuste.

Throughout Tuesday afternoon, a report was circulating in which it was noted that the board’s ten directors would ask Laporta to dismiss Joan Oliver. All sources consulted by Sport yesterday however, denied those claims

One of the key development of this meeting will be to determine whether directors are restricted exclusively to the agenda (proposed by the president Joan Laporta, the secretary of the board Josep Cubells and the general manager Joan Oliver) or accept to discuss any issues put on the table.

With the rules currently in place, they can only speak of the items on the agenda, but this board has always been very flexible and has always permitted one of its members to introduce other topics. According to a director consulted by Sport said, “it would be very sad if this time we were not allowed to discuss other issues.”

It has to be remembered though that at the last delegate meeting, Laporta did not permit any discussion of succession, as raised by one of the vice-president.

It is also very likely that the group of directors led by Jaume Ferrer will not discuss this topic as he has decided to stand in the elections. Provoking a debate could push Laporta, for example, to open a show of hands (vote) and ask that the result be binding. That is to say, if Alfons Godall wins, the rest of the directors must support him and go with him as the candidate in the next elections.

What the group of directors might seek to do is to reduce the tension that exists in the board since the last time they  met, since the safety audits controversy, and since the failed nomination of Ferrer Sala i Martín, as Laporta’s successor, only to replaced later by Godall.

Some of them also want to reintroduce the slogan that won the elections for Laporta: “Primer, el Barça” (“First, Barca”). They are asking for a dialogue without tensions, to agree on ideas and not to impose any. In that spirit they will come to this meeting.

In addition to this, they are also seriously concerned about the actions and policy statements made by Joan Laporta, who already have created conflicts with the presidents of Extremadura and Cantabria separately.

Although many believe it is impossible for Laporta to stop, as he is known for his temperamental nature, they want him to see that for the good of FC Barcelona, he should refrain from showing his political preferences, at least never under the umbrella of the Catalan club. His political positions is creating hostility towards Guardiola’s team in many parts of the Spanish state and would not be unreasonable to think that it might even influence certain refereeing decisions.

Hence, the sense of expectation coming out of today’s meeting will therefore be a lot.