politicians Pilar Rahola and Ángel Colom founded the now-defunct Partit per la independencia, which supported Catalan separatism. He was also an active participant at the controversial Frankfurt Book Fair of 2007, at which Catalan language and culture were the special featured invitees, but not including other Catalonia-based authors who wrote in other languages, such as Spanish. At the fair, Laporta stated that he "hopes that FC Barcelona continues to be a tool to promote the Catalan language and culture" and to the contrary, he would feel obligated "to create the Catalan Republic of Barcelona". Another criticism Joan Laporta faced was coming back to his presidential chair in 2021 for FC Barcelona club, which already had big financial issues and its best football player Lionel Messi on the verge of leaving, with promises to turn the situation around and persuade Messi to stay. He failed the promise, Messi left for another club making some fans angry and upset. Messi's exit from Barcelona led to Jaume Llopis, a former member of the Espai Barca Commission, to resign from his post stating that the club and the president did not do their all to keep the Argentine at the club. Fraud involvement According to OK Diario, a leading Spanish investigative newspaper, Laporta would be implicated in a case of fraud of more than EUR 1,000,000 from a Dubai businessman together with a character of dubious reputation, Rayco Garcia Cabrera, who already committed similar crimes by forging contracts from Real Madrid and making false representations in 2015 in Oman and Tanzania. Personal life Laporta was married to Constanza Echevarría and has three sons, Pol, Guillem and Jan. Laporta's son Pol is a footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. Trophies won by club during presidency La Liga 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10 Primera División (women) 2020–21, 2021–22 Copa del Rey 2008–09, 2020–21 Supercopa de España 2005, 2006, 2009, 2022-23 UEFA Champions League 2005–06, 2008–09 UEFA Women's Champions League 2020–21 UEFA Super Cup 2009 FIFA Club World Cup 2009 EHF Champions League 2020–21 References 1962 births Living people Lawyers from Barcelona FC Barcelona presidents 20th-century Spanish lawyers Members of the Parliament of Catalonia University of Barcelona alumni People named in the Paradise Papers