Joan Laporta has been re-elected as Barcelona president for the next five years after beating Victor Font in Sunday’s election.
Laporta breezed to victory in the end, obtaining 32,934 of the 48,480 votes from the club’s members (socios), while Font received 14,385 votes, 984 were left blank and 177 were declared void.
“First of all, I want to dedicate a few words of gratitude to this wonderful club we have,” Laporta said after his victory was ratified to the backdrop of chants of ‘president.’
“It’s great to see that members can still choose who represents us. This passion is a joy, it makes the club special, so thanks to Barça and all the members that voted today in a display of democracy.”
The total number of votes cast represented a turnout of 42.34%, Barça said, with 114,504 members eligible to take part in the election.
Current and former presidents, coaches and players were among those to cast their ballot at Spotify Camp Nou, including Hansi Flick and members of the men’s first team squad.
“The result itself is conclusive and it gives us a lot of strength — so much strength that it will make us unstoppable,” Laporta added. “We will keep defending Barcelona against everything and everyone. The upcoming years will be thrilling. They will be the best of our lives.”
Sunday’s election coincided with Barça’s 5-2 win over Sevilla in LaLiga, with coach Flick and many players, including Raphinha, Pedri and Dani Olmo, submitting their votes after the victory.
“I won’t tell you who [I will vote for] because it’s a secret,” Flick said in a news conference shortly before voting. “It’s a special day. I saw it on the television in my office in the stadium, the election going on, it’s special. I think also everyone is happy, it was a great day.”
Earlier, goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, currently on loan at Girona, had suffered an embarrassing moment when he was unable to vote because his name was not on the electoral register.
All Barça players are made members when they join the club, but it is their responsibility to update their membership, which the German international had not done ahead of the election.
Injured Barça Femení players Aitana Bonmatí and Laia Aleixandri also voted, although the majority of their teammates could not as they played away at Deportivo de La Coruña on Sunday.
Former Barça coach Xavi Hernández also voted — just days after calling Laporta a “liar” for his role in Lionel Messi’s failed return to the club in 2023 — as did ex-Inter Miami CF midfielder Sergio Busquets. Spotify Camp Nou was one of five polling stations set up on the day, with members also able to vote in Tarragona, Girona, Lleida and Andorra.
The result is a repeat of 2021, when Laporta also beat Font convincingly to succeed Josep Maria Bartomeu as Barça president.
That signalled the start of Laporta’s second spell at the head of the club. He was previously president between 2003 and 2010, overseeing the appointment of Pep Guardiola and the club’s first Treble in 2009, before returning to the post 11 years later.
Since his return, Barça have won two LaLiga titles, while the women’s team have won three Champions Leagues, but it is the success the men’s team have had under Flick which provided the cornerstone to his campaign.
Flick led Barça to a domestic treble last season — LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Supercopa — and a first Champions League semifinal since 2019, while they remain well placed in both LaLiga and the Champions League again this term.
In the meantime, Laporta has taken on the rebuild of Spotify Camp Nou, with the first two tiers of the revamped stadium completely operational for the first time against Sevilla on Sunday, increasing the capacity to over 60,000 as work continues on the third tier.
Font had hoped to sway members to vote for him by claiming the club’s financial situation has not improved under Laporta — who says that it has — that the return to Spotify Camp Nou has been repeatedly delayed and because of the way the president dealt with Messi’s exit.
Source: ESPN