Beyond the transfer market, the candidates clashed over the club’s internal structure. Font attacked the influence of unofficial advisor Alejandro Echevarria and criticised sporting director Deco’s qualifications.
“Deco is a partner of Alejandro Echevarria, which is his main qualification for being Barca’s sporting director. He replaced Johan Cruyff’s son, who left undervalued, and Mateu Alemany. What he has, he inherited. We can’t have fascists at Barcelona [referring to Echevarria].” Font alleged, targeting Echevarria's past political links.
Laporta was quick to defend his sporting structure, arguing that Deco’s work is essential to the first team's success. He claimed that removing the current hierarchy would jeopardise coach Hansi Flick’s job security and disrupt the development of a flourishing young squad.
“Font denies the obvious and tells lies. He’s a technocrat who works behind a computer. He wants to destroy everything we’ve built. Victor Font bases his campaign on lies. He wants to replace Deco with three people. Deco’s departure jeopardises Hansi Flick’s job security," said Laporta. "This shows a complete lack of understanding of how things work. Deco is better than Mateu Alemany [his predecessor]. Alemany knows about as much about football as me. He has built the squad, revitalised a whole generation of young players. There’s a structure in place that works.”