Barcelona’s ex-president on prison: I was given condoms and Vaseline. I was protected by a gypsy boss

Sandro Rosell has been through hell. The former Barcelona president spent just under two years in prison, during which he picked up a lot of experiences, some positive, but mostly negative.

The businessman Sandro Rosell linked his sporting life to Barcelona. In 2003-05 he was vice-president of the club, in July 2010 he had already risen to chief executive and became president of the club, which he was until 2014.

Rosell was accused of tax evasion while boss of the Catalan giant and was placed in pre-trial detention for 645 days, but was later acquitted. But he had his time in prison, which he tells Risto Mejide on his show ‘Viajando con Chester’.

“I was threatened several times, but my colleagues always came to my defense. They wanted to beat me up. Once for working in Barcelona, the second time for being Catalan. Once it happened in a prison in Madrid, once in Barcelona, but in both cases they protected me without me asking for it,” says Rosell.

“One prisoner wanted to beat me bloody until I sent him all my money. But my colleagues came running and stopped him,” Rosell recalls.

Gypsy boss

“In Barcelona prison, I made friends with a gypsy boss who was a big Barca fan. But then a gypsy started threatening me, but the boss made it clear to him that it wasn’t like that and everything stopped,” the former Barcelona president describes how he built relationships in prison.

As a former Barcelona boss, he had a hard time in the Madrid prison. The Blaugranas are Real Madrid’s hated rivals and the fans sometimes experience the rivalry a lot.

The Barcelona native recalls that in Madrid’s Soto del Real prison he was most protected by Colombian prisoners. During his almost two years in prison, Sandro Rosell witnessed many fights and even one stabbing. “One prisoner stabbed another just because he owed him a Coca-Cola, ” the 58-year-old businessman said.

The former Blaugranas president continued to recall that he could not remember ever crying in his life and cried several times in prison. He also confirms that the currency behind bars is tobacco.

Condoms and Vaseline

“When you come to prison, you said you would get condoms and Vaseline. Did you find out why?” asked Rosell the presenter Risto Mejide.

“Yes, I found out why. There are a lot of homosexual relationships in prison. But also among people who are not homosexual,” the former Barcelona president explained.

Source: Viajando con Chester, Twitter