Joan Laporta is heading for a victory in the Barcelona presidential election. According to an exit poll from TV3 The 58-year-old has received more votes from the club members than Victor Font and Toni Freixa, making him the permanent successor to the departed Josep Maria Bartomeu. The final result is expected on Sunday evening after 11.30 pm.
TV3 came just before 9 p.m. with the first forecasts, after the ballot box closed for all members of Barcelona. Laporta received 58.3 percent of the vote, according to that exit poll, while 31.3 percent of members voted for Font and only 9.3 percent of the vote went to Freixa. Incidentally, this exit poll does not include the 20,000 votes cast by post and therefore only concerns the voters who cast their votes on location. The official count must be completed within two hours, after which it must be definitively shown whether Laporta will receive his second term as president of Barcelona.
During Laporta’s previous presidency, Barcelona went through a heyday. With Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta as eye-catchers, Barcelona experienced golden years, of which 2009 is the most eye-catching, with the treble won. The current situation is a lot less rosy for Barcelona. The superpower is in need of money, has mixed results from a sporting point of view and is not assured of Messi staying on after a tumultuous transfer summer in which he wanted to leave. Laporta hopes to return Barcelona to its glory years, but is first charged with the arduous task of cleaning up the mess from its predecessor. The focus of his campaign was on more attention for the youth academy and more participation for the socioes.
Font, Freixa and Laporta were present at the Copa del Rey match against Sevilla on Wednesday.
More than 110,000 members were entitled to vote in the elections, which would initially take place on January 24. Due to freedom-restricting measures related to the coronavirus, not everyone had the opportunity to vote and so the elections were postponed. More than 20,000 members voted by mail; the rest of the voters could go to the polls in various places on Sunday. They had a choice of three remaining candidates. Font is the CEO of a company that provides advice in the telecommunications sector, while Freixa was a member of the board for many years, both under Laporta and his successors Sandro Rosell and Bartomeu. Laporta was the big favorite to win.
The future of Ronald Koeman as a trainer was the subject of discussion during the election campaign. Font flirted regularly with the arrival of Xavi as a trainer. Koeman seems to enjoy Laporta more confidently. “He deserves respect and is one of the greats of Barcelona. He has a contract and we have to realize that we are in a very difficult situation. He is our trainer,” assured the future chairman at the end of last year. In January, he added: “Like any coach, Koeman will be given time to be judged on the results and the way he lets his team play.” Reported earlier this week RAC1 however that Laporta is also thinking about the arrival of Mikel Arteta, the trainer of Arsenal.
“I have a very good relationship with Messi,” Laporta made clear earlier this week. He insinuated that socios should vote for him if they want to make sure the attacker stays with the club. “I will do anything to keep him for Barcelona. I know he is considering my proposal, but then you, the fans, will have to vote for me. If I don’t win, I’m sure Messi won’t stay in Barcelona.” When Freixa was director, Messi was not at all happy. ” It is known that Messi was not a fan of Bartomeu, but the star player has not spoken out about the three candidate successors. On Sunday morning he did cast his vote in the Camp Nou. His contract expires in the summer.
?? El capità del primer equip, Leo Messi, exerceix el seu dret a vot al Camp Nou ?? pic.twitter.com/XxSKGRtTaC
– FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_cat) March 7, 2021
At an earlier stage, among other things, speculated The Telegraph about a possible move from Marc Overmars to Barcelona, where he will manage the technical portfolio. The chance that Barcelona would end up with the director of football affairs of Ajax would be greatest under Laporta. The new Barcelona president himself said in January that he saw three candidates for the position of technical director, but he did not want to get too ahead of things. “I want to talk to those on the team before choosing from the options we have. I’m not going to name players, coaches or other candidates for the coaching staff,” said Laporta.