LaLiga champions Barcelona have called elections to vote for a new president on March 15.
Current president Joan Laporta’s five-year mandate ends later this year, but there was some flexibility on when elections could be held.
The club could have chosen any date between the middle of March and the middle of June, but have opted for the earliest possible window, while the team is still competing in various competitions.
In addition to Laporta, who will stand again, Víctor Font, Marc Ciria, Xavier Vilajoana and Joan Camprubí have all announced their intention to run for the presidency.
For their names to eventually be on the ballot on March 15, though, they first need to get 2,321 signatures from club members backing their candidacy.
All four opposition candidates have criticised the decision to hold the election while the season is ongoing.
The date — a Sunday — falls in the middle of the Champions League round of 16, which Barça hope to be involved in, and at a time when LaLiga and the Copa del Rey are still at stake.
Sporting performances usually have a major influence on how members vote.
«It’s obvious that the elections have been called when is convenient for Laporta,» Font, who finished second in the 2021 election, said Thursday.
«But we expected it, celebrating elections in the middle of a Champions League tie, so it does not surprise us. We are ready for elections which will be hugely important for the Barça’s future.»
Laporta said that the date in March is the most «adequate date on a sporting and institutional level» to hold the elections.
With the date now set, Laporta must resign later in February ahead of the elections, with a management committee placed in charge of running the club on a day-to-day basis in the meantime.
Some of the key issues likely to feature in the build up to the elections include the club’s finances, the redevelopment of Spotify Camp Nou, which is now in the final stages, and any future role for Lionel Messi at the club.
Font has said Messi will be the first person he calls if he wins the elections, while Ciria has also said the Inter Miami forward «must come back» to the Spanish champions.
Laporta, who was in charge when Messi left the club, is currently serving his second non-consecutive term as Barça president. He was previously in the role between 2003 and 2010, winning elections in 2003 and 2006, and returned in 2021.
Since taking the reins for a second time, Barça have won two LaLiga titles, but the Champions League, which they have not won since 2015, continues to elude them.
Meanwhile, the women’s team has continued to have great success, winning five Liga F titles and three Champions Leagues.
