‘We are in shock’ – Joan Laporta delivers emotional speech after Barcelona first-team doctor’s tragic death | OneFootball

The last night was a highly tragic one for FC Barcelona as they saw one of their first-team doctors, Dr. Carles Minarro, pass away at the team’s hotel ahead of the La Liga game against Osasuna.

This unfortunate event resulted in the postponement of the match between these two sides, and a new date for this game is yet to be decided.

Meanwhile, as Mundo Deportivo has reported, the Blaugrana President Joan Laporta appeared in a video broadcast on the official club channels and gave a heartfelt speech to highlight his and the team’s sorrow on this loss.

Laporta started his speech by announcing the death of Dr. Minarro:

“I want to announce, on behalf of FC Barcelona, the passing of the first-team doctor, Carles Miñarro, a man very dear to all of us, who passed away this afternoon during the team’s training camp.”

“As you can imagine, the players, staff, and coach were all very saddened, and there was an overwhelming sense of grief. We all loved him very much. He traveled with us on every trip to take care of the players and never said no to anyone. He was a great doctor and a great professional.”

The Barcelona President also thanked all the involved actors for understanding the gravity of the situation and agreeing to the postponement of the game:

“In these moments of great sorrow, we felt that the best course of action was to request the postponement of the match. That is what we decided, and we communicated it to the president of LaLiga to explain the situation and what had happened. He understood and immediately began the procedures for the suspension.”

“We have received the utmost understanding from Osasuna, their president, and their management team. They have conducted themselves in an extraordinary manner. The referee team also completely understood. This is very painful news for FC Barcelona.”

Laporta went on to extend his condolences with the deceased doctor’s family:

“We are in shock because everything happened so suddenly. We have contacted his family, his mother, and his wife. We extend our deepest condolences in these painful moments, especially for them. We wanted them to know immediately because this is highly significant news, even more so given that it led to the suspension of the match.”

The President particularly extended his condolences to the wife and the two children that Dr. Minarro has left behind:

“Carles leaves behind two children, Gerard and Anna, as well as his wife, who was understandably very affected. We must stand by her. We have asked for the understanding of club members and Barça fans who were planning to watch the match, and I have seen great understanding when we announced it over the loudspeakers. There were applause and a small tribute.”

In such circumstances, Laporta argued the best way forward was to postpone the game last night:

“We had to request the postponement… the players were very affected, and out of respect for Carles Miñarro, his family, the entire staff, coach, and board members, we thought the best decision was to postpone the match.”

“The understanding of everyone who had a responsibility in this decision, because I believe we did the right thing and made the decision we had to. Thank you very much.”

There is no doubt that this must have been a traumatic event for the players as the doctor passed in the team’s camp. Thus, the postponement of the game makes sense, particularly so as it involved the death of a key part of the Barcelona medical staff.