Laporta’s stand is to be applauded
FC Barcelona could do without the association with their radical Boixos Noix (Mad Boys). Among Barça’s most loyal supporters who travel home and away, they are causing serious concern to Barca’s hierarchy, especially the president, Joan Laporta.
Past Barca presidents have paid lip service to and even courted the Boixos. Free match tickets, seats on planes to away games and a room in the stadium to store their banners were among the privileges enjoyed by the hardcore group who stood behind the goal at the Camp Nou.
Laporta stopped all these when he was elected president in 2003. The Boixos were furious and death threats were daubed on the pavement outside his family’s apartment in Barcelona’s affluent Zona Alta. The Boixos boycotted games leaving the bizarre sight of 2,000 empty seats behind the goal for every game as Barca ascended to become champions of Europe in 2006.
A few stayed, maybe 50, caged in behind glass partitions and watched by balaclava clad police during matches as they chanted: “Barca yes, Laporta no” continuously. They still do. Given that the Camp Nou is not always the cauldron of noise portrayed by the media, everyone hears it.