Barcelona (AFP)
The polling stations closed at 9:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. GMT) Sunday in Catalonia for the election of the new president of FC Barcelona with a very high turnout, a ballot in which former president Joan Laporta remains the big favorite.
These elections, "the most important in the history of Barça" according to remarks by Laporta reported by the club's media, generated a strong mobilization, with 55,676 votes recorded during the last count, at 8:00 p.m. (19:00 GMT), a few hundreds of votes out of the record dating from the 2010 presidential election (57,088 votes cast).
According to a first poll broadcast by the Catalan regional television TV3 carried out at the exit of the ballot boxes, Laporta would crush the ballot with more than half of the votes cast, far ahead of Victor Font (about a third of the votes) and Toni Freixa.
Figures ardently celebrated by Laporta, who has been seen jumping into the arms of his relatives, all smiles, while the faces of the other two candidates have darkened, according to the Catalan press.
But it is above all a democratic victory for this club whose daily life has been punctuated by internal scandals for more than a year.
- Historical participation -
At 8:00 p.m., 35,014 of the 110,290 major socios (supporters-shareholders) with voting rights had come to vote in person, in addition to the 20,663 votes cast by mail, for the first time in the club's history.
"The high turnout surprised me given the mobility difficulties that there were between provinces. It was not easy (to organize this) but we are satisfied with how it went," said Carles. Tusquets, at the head of the transitional management commission responsible for organizing the election and managing the club since the resignation of Josep maria Bartomeu at the end of October.
The latter, who had beaten Laporta in 2015, was pushed towards the exit by an abysmal debt (more than 1 billion euros, according to the club) and a sporting decline, materialized by the rout against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in August (8-2) and the desire to start in the wake of the icon Lionel Messi.
The extension of the Argentinian's contract, which expires in less than four months, on June 30, will be the hottest issue for the new president, who will also have to negotiate the staggering of the club's debt.
From the opening of the polling stations at 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning (08:00 GMT), a long line of cars had formed at the entrance to Camp Nou and the socios had come en masse to exercise their right to vote, despite the rain.
"May this day be a day of democracy for the club. I would like to thank all my campaign team, the volunteers and employees of the club and the socios, who make possible the holding of these elections, the most important in the history of the Barça. That a high participation make us become more than a club, "said Laporta (socio N.13.352) in front of the club media, taking up Barça's slogan.
- Messi voted -
His two opponents Toni Freixa (socio N.54.782) and Victor Font (socio N.67.970) also wanted a "high turnout" for the elections "the most important in the modern history of the club".
The players of the first team also began to come to vote at Camp Nou at the end of the morning, like Sergio Busquets, Riqui Puig or even the blaugrana legend Lionel Messi, who came to vote shortly before 11:45 with one of his son, a great first for him, who had so far never gotten wet during a ballot for the presidency of his favorite club.
Then other personalities, like Eric Abidal, Carles Puyol or Luis Enrique, and even the resigning ex-president Josep Maria Bartomeu, arrested, heard by justice then released between Monday and Tuesday in the case. of "Barçagate", an alleged campaign of slander targeting club figures.
© 2021 AFP