José Luis Núñez

José Luis Núñez was the recipient of the Olympic Order in Silver in 1999, but it was as the 35th, and longest serving, president of Barcelona Football Club, that he was better known. The first elected president of the club, he transformed Barcelona into one of the biggest, wealthiest, best, and most respected sports club in the world, and during his time as president, the club won 175 titles across all its sports.

In the football section, Núñez appointed a succession of managers who were household names, including César Luis Menotti (Argentina), the English pair of Bobby Robson and Terry Venables, and the Dutchmen Louis van Gaal and Johan Cruyff. It was Cruyff’s appointment that was Núñez’s master-stroke, because under him, Barça’s “Dream Team” won 11 titles in eight seasons, including their first ever Champions’ League/European Cup in 1992, when they beat Sampdoria of Italy 1-0 after extra-time at Wembley Stadium. Cruyff also led the team to four consecutive La Liga titles.

Throughout Núñez’s presidency, between 1978-2000, the football club domestically won seven league titles, six Spanish cups, five super cups and two league cups. In Europe, they won the Champions League, European Cup-winners’ Cup four times and the UEFA Super Cup twice. Despite all his successes, Núñez did make some enemies along the way, and his refusal to meet players’ demands for higher wages resulted in the likes of Diego Maradona and Ronaldo leaving the club prematurely.

Núñez hailed from the Basque region of Spain, where his father was a policeman. They moved to Barcelona when Núñez was aged seven, and he later went on to study accountancy and sell life insurance before, in 1958, he married Maria Lluïsa Navarro Obón, the daughter of a wealthy builder, Francisco Navarro. Núñez eventually became a partner in his father-in-law’s business. In February 2018, it was estimated that Núñez’s wealth was 600 million euros. In 2011 he was sentenced to six years imprisonment on fraud charges. However, he did not go to prison until November 2014, but was released a month later.