FC Barcelona and the European Commission’s “Quit Smoking with Barça - Deja de Fumar con el Barça” was awarded the 2013 ELF Award by the European Lung Foundation (ELF) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) during the Annual ERS Congress.

The campaign is designed to help millions of Europeans kick the habit and enjoy the benefits of a life without smoke – more than 70,000 individuals have registered to take part in the programme. It is also the first campaign launched by large public institution in collaboration with a globally-known sports club. “Quit Smoking with Barça-Deja de Fumar con el Barça” has been applauded by the medical and scientific community because its focus is on the long-term health benefits associated with a life without smoke.

Prize awarded in Barcelona

The presentation of the ELF Award – the award is given annually to an organisation that has made an important contribution in the respiratory health field – took place during the Annual ERS Congress in Barcelona. This year’s Congress, which started on September 7 and will run through September 11 and is attended by 20,000 health professionals, will discuss the latest advancements in respiratory medicine. This ceremony honours significant research and public projects in respiratory health in Europe.

The director responsible for the Club’s Medical Services, Jordi Monés, said that this campaign has allowed Barça to honour its ‘Més que un Club’ slogan: “We’re delighted to have worked with the European Commission in such an important public health issue, and we’re proud to be here, in Barcelona, to receive the ELF Award. This shows that our message reaches people, and that our common effort has had a positive impact. At Barça we firmly believe in the ‘Més que un Club’ slogan, and we want to promote the values of respect, social commitment and health. The ‘Quit Smoking with Barça - Deja de Fumar con el Barça’ campaign allows us to honour our slogan.”

Monica Fletcher, ELF president, said that the decision to award Barça was unanimous: “What impressed us most about this campaign was that it was able to reach people who were unsuccessful in their fight to quit smoking and people who haven’t tried to quit.”

FC Barcelona and the European Commission’s commitment to a public health, as explained by Paola Testori Coggi, Director General for Health and Consumers of the European Commission, is one of the strengths of the union between the two institutions. “We are very pleased with the positive impact we have had with this partnership, and we’re pleased that it’s recognised by health professionals. We hope to continue inspiring people to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Together we can work for a Europe without smoke,” she said.

“Quit smoking with Barça” is the latest step in the European Commission’s campaign ”Ex-smokers are Unstoppable” , an initiative which has spread across 27 countries of the European Union over the last two years. At the heart of the campaign is the free on-line tool FCB iCoach, - a telephone app which offers updated support with the participation of Barça players, coaches and staff.

The first match you ever see at the Camp Nou is unforgettable for any fan. The stadium has been the stage for so many fantastic human stories with the magic of the team, the crowd and the Club.

The August-September edition of the ‘Revista Barça’  features a report titled ‘Debutar des de la grada’ – “Debut on the terraces” – which includes the stories of five fans who explain their first experience at the Camp Nou. One of the five stories belongs to the Dominique Lionel, from Belgium, who three years ago was injured in a car accident which left him in a wheelchair and fearing he’d never get to see his hero Leo Messi at the Camp Nou.

However, on May 5^th 2013, Dominique, accompanied by his mother, attended the game against Betis in his wheelchair and saw his hero lead the team to a 4-2 win. It was a magical experience and one of what must be so many for fans making their first visit to a game at the stadium.

Do you remember your first game at the Camp Nou?

We’ve heard Dominique’s story, now it’s your turn! Tell us your story via the social networks and share it with the rest of the Barça fans. Can you remember who we played against? Who did you go with? Have you still got the photos? Let us know via the Club’s Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts using the hashtag  #PrimerDiaCampNou and we’ll put all your stories together.

The re-laying of the Camp Nou pitch was completed this weekend, with 8,000 square metres of new turf successfully laid down. The next phase for the Club’s groundsmen is to ensure that the new surface is in optimum condition for Saturday’s game against Seville. Once it has been levelled using the latest laser technology, the grass will be cut down from 30 mm to 22 or 24mm for match day use. Five tons of sand will also be added over the next few days and the pitch will be forked over to allow air to enter and guarantee successful rooting to occur.

The exact markings for the pitch will be pained this Thursday, with the lines painted later and the fans should be able to see a perfect pitch when Barça and Seville come out at 20.00 on Saturday.

FC Barcelona has announced a three-year sponsorship deal with the United Arab Bank (UAB) to run till July 2016. The landmark alliance confirms UAB as “FC Barcelona Official Partner” in the UAE and means the bank is the first bank in the UAE to partner a football club. Considered the fastest growing retail bank in the UAE, United Arab Bank looks to tap into the nation’s immense passion for football in general and FC Barcelona in particular. As official partner of the club, the bank will create a range of customized Barca -themed products to fulfill the demands of the many Barca fans across the UAE.

The announcement was made at a glittering event hosted by FC Barcelona and United Arab Bank, at Mirdiff City Centre. The club was represented by Javier Faus, Vice President of the Economic and Strategic Area, and Manel Arroyo Pérez, Director at the Economic and Strategic Area. The United Arab Bank was represented by Paul Trowbridge, CEO, Tony Graham, Head of Retail Banking, and Sheikh Mohammed Abdulla Al Nuaimi, Executive Vice President.

Explaining the reasons the Club chose UAB as a partner, Javier Faus, Vice-President said: “we are extremely pleased with the agreement reached with the United Arab Bank, making UAB the FC Barcelona Official Bank in the UAE and our first financial partner outside Spain and Andorra. We have chosen the UAB for many reasons. These include its capacity for growth, the fastest in the UAE, and the enthusiasm it puts into its projects. Our Club and our members share the same philosophy and passion for football”.

[[CITA_1]]The FC Barcelona economic vice-president also congratulated Mr Paul Trowbridge and his team “for having the initiative to place such an important advertisement in that commercial center and for the wonderful reception we have received from Barça fans. FC Barcelona is famous for its unique style of football and also for being so ambitious and for defending the values and ideals that we believe in. We are sure we will share many satisfactions with the United Arab Bank over the next few years.”

Commenting on the alliance, Paul Trowbridge, CEO, United Arab Bank said “We are excited to partner with FC Barcelona – a brand that shares the same values as ours and embodies the spirit of winning. United Arab Bank has had a very successful 2012 and 2013 and we have demonstrated our strength through our many achievements. The club’s selection reiterates our position as one of the major players in the banking sector in the region and also this partnership will help them fulfill their aspirations in the emirates.”

A great success

United Arab Bank kick started the launch with a weeklong promotion and attracted many Barça fans to register on a special website created for the launch. 14 winners get a unique once a life time opportunity to watch FC Barcelona live at Camp Nou on 24th September. The bank also intend to roll out various products and services, which will give additional an 1500 customers top end hospitality seats to watch FC Barcelona live in action over the next three years.

FC Barcelona will celebrate the National Day of Catalonia on Wednesday at 9.20 with a traditional floral offering at the Rafael Casanova monument. FC Barcelona  will be represented by members of the Board of Directors, manages and players from the Barça sports teams, members of the Club commission, and players from the youth system and Women’s team, in addition to representatives from the Barça Players Association.

Coach Tata Martino will experience his first National Day of Catalonia – also known as the Diada – on September 11 when he visits the Rafael Casanova monument, he’ll be accompanied by Gerard Piqué. Xavi Pascual and Víctor Tomás (FCB handball); Ricardo Muñoz and Aitor Egurrola (FCB roller hockey);  Marc Carmona and Jordi Torras (FCB futsal); Xavi Llorens and Vicky Losada (FCB Women’s team) and members from the youth academy will also be in attendance. There will be no representatives from Barca’s basketball team this year seeing that Xavi Pascual and his men are currently training in Andorra.

Vice-presidents Carles Vilarrubí and Jordi Cardoner

The Board of Directors will be led by the vice-presidents Carles Vilarrubí and Jordi Cardoner, they will be accompanied by directors Jordi Moix, Pilar Guinovart, Jordi Mestre, Dídac Lee and Josep Ramon Vidal-Abarca. President Sandro Rosell will not attend the event because of a prior engagement in Geneva with the ECA.

In addition to the FC Barcelona delegation, the Barça Players Association, led by President Ramon Alfonseda, will also make a floral offering at the Rafael Casanova monument.

Sandro Rosell, who is in Geneva, attended the General Assembly of the ECA (European Club Association) which was tasked with selecting the Executive Committee. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was re-elected as president, Umberto Gandini (AC Milan) was re-elected as first vice-president, and Sandro Rosell was re-elected as second vice-president.

Evgeni Giner, from CSKA Moscow, is the newcomer to the Executive Committee as he replaces Anderlecht’s Michel Verschueren as the third vice-president. The FC Barcelona president’s seat at the Executive Committee’s table was already secured given that he’s a member of UEFA’s Professional Football Strategy Council. He was named to the post last month.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to have the support from European clubs, I will keep on defending their interests as the ECA’s vice-president and president of the marketing and communications group,” said Rosell, who will remain in office until 2015. It’s worth noting the members of the Executive Committee serve two-year terms.

Athletic Club and Real Sociedad, among other clubs, joined the ECA this year. The total number of European clubs represented at the ECA is 214. In total, there are nine Primera División teams in the organisation (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla, Malaga, Athletic Club and Real Sociedad).

FC Barcelona’s 75 million fans on social networks makes the team the most followed sports team in the world online, but Barça’s success has also spilled over to its players. If we add up the players’ online followers, the total number is 178 million people.

Leading the 2.0 field

Barça consolidates its position as an online leader thanks to its 44 million fans on Facebook and more than 17 million followers on Twitter. The team’s Instagram account will surpass the one-million follower mark in the coming days.

Barça are also the first sports club to break the one-million subscriber mark on YouTube, and the first team to get more than six million fans on Google+.

Leo Messi leads the way

Not only is he the best player on the pitch, but Messi is also one of the most followed athletes on social networks. The Argentine is the Barça player with the most influence on Facebook; he has more than 47 million fans on the site. Andrés Iniesta, with 14 million, and Neymar, with 13 million, are second and third respectively.

Neymar and Iniesta also have large followings on Twitter, a web platform where Messi has yet to make an official account.

Neymar, O Rei on Instagram

Barça’s only signing of the season is one of the most active in the online world. His Instagram account is followed by more than 2.4 million people, this makes him the most followed athlete on the 2.0 platform.

FC Barcelona have more than 10 million followers on Line only a week after launching its official account on the messaging platform. The Japanese application has more than 230 million users world wide.

Users can download a stickers pack for free from Barça’s Line accounts, which are in Catalan, Spanish, English, Japanese and Portuguese. The stickers can be used in the conversations that users have on Line.

Barça’s presence on Line compliments the team’s leading status in the Asian market. For example, the Club’s Tencent Weibo account just recently surpassed the three-million follower mark. Overall, the team have more than 75 million fans and followers on social networking sites.

Catalonia celebrates the National Day of Catalonia this Wednesday, September 11, with a series of events that started off with the traditional floral offering at the Rafael Casanova monument in Barcelona. FC Barcelona was represented at the event by vice-presidents Carles Vilarrubí and Jordi Cardoner.

The directors Jordi Moix, Jordi Mestre, Dídac Lee and Josep Ramon Vidal-Abarca accompanied Vilarrubí and Cardoner at the event. The FC Barcelona entourage was not only made up of members from the Board of Directors, it also boasted the presence of of managers and players from the Club's professional teams, Club committee members, representatives from the Club’s Women’s team and youth football, and members from the Barça Players Association. President Sandro Rosell was unable to attend due to prior engagements with the ECA in Geneva.

Tata Martino’s first ‘Diada’

The manager Tata Martino, who was accompanied by Gerard Piqué, experienced his first National Day of Catalonia. Manager Xavi Pascual (handball), Ricardo Muñoz and Aitor Egurrola (roller hockey), and Marc Carmona and Jordi Torras (futsal) also attended the event. Víctor Tomás was unable to attend due to illness. The Club’s basketball manager and captain were also not able to attend because the team is currently in Andorra preparing for the upcoming season. However, the team’s technical secretary, Joan Creus, the Barça B manager Aleix Duran and Barça B player Nick Spires were in attendance. The entourage was complete with Xavi Llorens and Vicky Losada (FCB Women’s Team) and various representatives from the team’s youth academy.

In addition to FC Barcelona, the Barça Players Association, represented its president, Ramon Alfonseda, also offered up a floral offering at the Rafael Casanova monument.

EA SPORTS™ have presented the Demo Version of the FIFA 14 game, in which Barça play a big part. One key feature of the Demo is that the Camp Nou figures as the host stadium for the games between the eight teams featured.

Play with the Barça stars

FIFA 14 - considered at Gamecom to be “the best ever sports game”, allows the user to control and enjoy Barça’s stars and the Demo version for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC users can be downloaded here.

As well as Barça, the game features PSG, AC Milan, Manchester City, Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund, Boca Juniors and NY Red Bull, as well as the option for users to create their own team via the FIFA Ultimate Team game mode.

New Techniques

The FIFA series continues to evolve and the new full version will offer a series of new features including “Pure Shot” and “Real Ball Physics” make the gaming experience even more authentic.

The game has also increased the number of leagues featured to 33, with 600 teams and more than 16,000 players, with the 20 top Brazilian teams and the Argentinean and, Colombian and Chilean top divisions now available, as well as the Brazilian national side.

Pre-order your copy of FIFA 14 here.

Tata Martino’s men will make their debut in the 2013/14 edition of the  Champions League on Wednesday, against Ajax, at 20.45. The Barça manager and Gerard Piqué will talk to the press on Tuesday after the team’s training session. The press conferences will start at 12.30, and they will be streamed live on the Club’s webpage.

Juvenil A to make Europe debut

Barça’s Juvenil team will face off against their Ajax counterparts on Tuesday for the first match of the UEFA Youth League at the Miniestadi. Fans who cannot attend the match can watch it live on www.fcbarcelona.com or on Barça TV, kick off is at 20.00.

Starting today, FC Barcelona fans have a new tool at their disposal that will help them keep track of Barça’s social media accounts. Barça, whose players have a combined following of 178 million fans on social media sites, unveils its new social tool: FCB Social.

With FCB Social, Barça fans will be able to follow any of 27 official Club accounts, find out about the latests developments concerning Barça’s online presence, visualise the latest photos posted on Instagram and the chronological growth of Barça’s online accounts.

FCB SOCIAL

Global presence

Barça have a total of nine official Facebook accounts, 15 Twitter accounts, as well as official accounts on YouTube, Google+ and Instagram. The Club’s 2.0 presence also extends to Asia, where Barça have accounts on Tencent and on Line.

Meteoric rise

Through FCB Social we can see that in 2013 Barça have gained 13 million new fans, that's enough people to fill the Camp Nou nearly 132 times. This year, Barça have successfully launched accounts on Instagram and Line, and the Club’s YouTube channel has over one million subscribers.

 TICKETS Celtic-FCB

From 10.00 on Tuesday September 17th through till 19.00 on Wednesday 18th, Club members can make their applications for tickets via the club website (www.fcbarcelona.cat) to see the Champions League group game between Glasgow Celtic and Barça in Glasgow at 20.45 on October 1st.

Sales are exclusively for club members and tickets must be purchased via a form that is available in the members section of the club website at www.fcbarcelona.cat. Each member may only apply for one ticket, but up to four members can apply on the same form, so that they can travel together.

Please note that since last season, applications for tickets for away games also need to be made via the Club website – previously this was only done for the knock put stage games.

Tickets between 56 and 66 Euros

The Club will have 2,800 tickets to distribute amongst members, on sale between €56 and €66. We have been informed by Celtic that some of these seats have restricted visibility.  As usual, 85% of these tickets will be made available to club members (1,904) and supporters clubs (476), with the rest (420) going to sponsors and institutional and sporting commitments made by the Club.

Draw on 19^th September

All applications will be processed at the end of the established period. If there are more applications than tickets available, on September 19th a draw will be held in the presence of a notary between all applicant members and the club will announce the names of the lucky members, charge for the tickets and inform them of how to go about collecting their tickets on 19th and 20th September.

FC Barcelona’s budget for the 2013/14 season will be 509 million euros, according to the secretary and spokesman for the board, Toni Freixa. That’s the first time in club history that the budget has been over 500 million, while operating income for last season was 491 million euros, 21 more than originally budgeted.

Freixa announced that the additional income had come from sponsorship deals, as well as the transfer of Thiago Alcántara to Bayern Munich. All told, the board’s prediction is that the 2013/14 season will close with a surplus of 36 million euros after tax. "But this is not a message of triumph” said Freixa. “It will still be difficult to manage the club and we have to continue with our austerity policies.”

Meetings on October 2 and 3

The economic proposal will be presented for approval by delegate members at the next Ordinary General Assembly on October 5. Previously, informative meetings will be held on October 2 and 3 in the new Social Area to inform members about economic affairs (18.00) and the modifications to the Statutes (20.00). The directors of each area will be attending the meetings.

Photography competition

Freixa also explained that in the area of Barça Cultura, a photography competition is going to be held for the best portrayal of the club’s values. It will be open for six months and further details will be announced shortly.

Freixa also commented that the Board will be holding its next meeting in Salou during the final quarter of 2013 and another in Andorra in early 2014.

Camp Nou under study

Asked about the possible rebuilding or restructuring of the Camp Nou, Freixa explained that the project is still in the study phase. "We have not debated the issue among the Board as we still have not received the information from the specialists” he said.

Finally, Freixa confirmed that FCB has invited Johan Cruyff to dine with his colleagues before the Ajax match, but they have yet to receive a response from the former Barça player and manager.

From Thursday September 19 until February 1, 2014, FC Barcelona will be receiving requests for Palau Blaugrana season tickets to watch handball, futsal and roller hockey this season.

Note that season ticket holding members get into handball, futsal and roller hockey matches for free, but a season ticket for the Palau guarantees they won’t miss match and can have their very own prime location seat in the pavilion. Also, while normal members still have to queue up for tickets for matches, with a season ticket, you can go straight inside.

The price for members to get season tickets for handball or futsal is 63 euros per section, while a roller hockey season ticket costs just 42 euros.

FC Barcelona members that already have basketball season tickets get a 25% discount. For them, therefore, the handball or futsal season tickets come to just 47 euros, and roller hockey ones 31 euros.

Friends of...

FC Barcelona also issues non-members with ‘Friends of Handball’, ‘Friends of Futsal’ and ‘Friends of Roller Hockey’ cards, which offer the same advantages as members with season tickets – their own prime location seat and free entry to all matches.

Register now

Members wanting season tickets for one, two or all three of the sections must go in person to the OAB, or can apply by email by downloading the form that they will find in the Ticketing section of the club website at www.fcbarcelona.cat. Non-members can only get ‘Friends of’ cards by coming to the OAB in person.

This Wednesday at 19.00 the ticket petition process closed for the Champions League match away to Celtic, which corresponds to the second round of the Champions League Group Stage (Oct. 1). Club members requested a total of 455 tickets - through 206 request forms - and, therefore, all of them will be able to watch the match in Celtic Park.

Keeping in mind that the number of petitions did not surpass the amount of tickets available to Barça, it won’t be necessary to hold a draw. FC Barcelona have a total of 1,904 tickets reserved for its members.

FC Barcelona and the European Commission’s ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ campaign won the Euro Effie Award for its effectiveness in marketing and communication.

The Euro Effie Awards recognise the excellence in commecial communications with proven efficacy in two or more European countries. It’s worth noting that the ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ campaign has produced tangible results as more than 70,000 individuals in 27 European Union countries have registered with the programme.

A life without tobacco

The ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ campaign was borne out of two previous campaigns launched by the European Commission and FC Barcelona, they are: ‘Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable,’ which launched in 2011 in the 27 European Union countries, and ‘Barça Without Smoke,’ which launched on January 1 in 2012.

The director responsible for the Club’s Medical Services, Jodri Monés, said that the award “proves that the message of the ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ campaign has started to have positive health effects in Europe.” He added: “At Barça we firmly believe in our slogan, ‘Més que un Club,’ and we promote the values of respect, health and social commitment. ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ allows us to live out our slogan.”

The new FC Barcelona third kit for the 2013/2014 season is a powerful black with yellow trimmings.  The shirt, which will go on sale starting this Friday September 21^st, stands out for its black modern sailor collar with a smooth black body and striking yellow vertical stripes.  Fans will note the yellow and red colours of the Catalan flag on the inside of the collar and the sleeves.

3rd kit 2013/14

The shorts of the new third kit are black with a vertical yellow stripe on both sides.  The socks are also black and feature the yellow and red colours of the Catalan flag on the back.

Technological innovation

The kit is a clear example of Nike’s commitment to style, quality manufacture and passion, as well as making a contribution to the footballer’s performance thanks to the latest technological innovations that it incorporates.

A good example of this is the fact that the kit is made of recycled polyester, as part of Nike's commitment to producing high performance clothing with a low environmental impact.  The shirt and the shorts of each kit are manufactured from up to thirteen recycled plastic water bottles.

Special weave and Nike Dri-FIT

 In addition, the kit weighs just 150 grams, 23% less than previous Nike designs.  It is characterized by a weave that is 20% stronger and of clearly superior flexibility.  Thanks to Nike Dri-FIT technology, sweat is removed from the body through the weave until it evaporates, keeping the footballer fresh and dry.

 For added comfort and thermal regulation, ventilation zones consisting of tiny laser-cut holes are provided in the armpits and on the elastic band of the shorts.  Airflow is increased thanks to the mesh panel that runs across the back.

Club members and fans can now purchase FC Barcelona's third kit for the 2013/14 season. Starting this Saturday, September 21, the jersey, shorts and socks – all of which are black with yellow highlights – are now on sale.

The kit can be purchased at the usual market outlets, for example, the FCBotiga Megastore at the Camp Nou, the official FCBotigues around Barcelona and on the Club’s official website.

THIRD KIT But it online

Come to the Camp Nou for the Mercè! FC Barcelona host Real Sociedad this Tuesday at 20.00. The game kicks off round six of La Lliga and should be a real test for Martino's side against the Basques, who are playing in the Champions League this season.

Don't miss this chance to see Barça take on fellow UCL team Real Sociedad on Tuesday night!

TICKETS FCB - REIAL SOCIETAT