Barcelona's new president starts arranging the Catalan house ... and Messi is a "priority"

Four months after the resignation of Josep Maria Bartomeu and 11 years after leaving his post, Juan Laporta, 58, was elected the new president of Barcelona, ​​Sunday, in an effort to manage the rebuilding process of the team that had lost some of its prestige on the European continent.

A new president is what Barcelona was lacking for recovering from its continuous crisis for a year in the team that has not achieved a title since April 2019, seeking to breathe life into it and open a new page in its history, so that his main task will be to extend the contract of the Argentine team star, Lionel Messi, which ends on June 30.

According to Barcelona's official results, Laporta won 54.28 percent of the vote (30,184 votes), ahead of the other candidates Victor Font (16,679 votes or 29.99 percent) and Toni Fricha (4,769 votes or 8.58 percent). .

According to the Catalan press, Laporta was seen enthusiastic about the poll numbers and jumped with joy and a smile, as the faces of the other candidates appeared stalemate.

In his first statement after the results, Laporta said, "20 years ago from now, a person called Messi started his career with Barcelona youth. To come and cast his vote today means that Leo loves Barca. Of all, we will persuade him to stay. Applaud Messi."

The first team players flocked to the "Camp Nou" stadium to cast their votes as Sergio Buscets, Ricky Butch and Messi, who attended with one of his sons at around 10:45 GMT.

Historic post

Even as it began to rain in Barcelona minutes after the polls opened, the club indicated on its official website at 9:45 pm that "the huge influx of members into the stadium continues," and posted a picture of fans in line wearing masks and rubbing their hands with sterilizers.

It is customary for members to cast their votes at the club’s headquarters in the "Camp Nou" stadium, but due to the health situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they were allowed to conduct the electoral process by mail.

Among the club's supporters who are entitled to vote, which number 110290 thousand, 35014 people participated in the vote in presence, in addition to 20,663 votes by mail, in a census after the polls closed, in what is considered a precedent in the history of the club.

"The turnout surprised me, given the difficulties in moving between the provinces. It was not easy (to organize this) but we are satisfied with the way things have gone," Barcelona's interim president Carles Tusquets said after Bartomeu's resignation at the end of October.

The number of voting places has been reduced from 10 to 6, where the club’s supporters can vote at the club’s headquarters in Barcelona, ​​or in Girona, Tarragona, Tortosa, Lédat and Andorra in order to write a new page in the history of the ancient club.

The elections, which were originally scheduled for January 24 to March 7, were postponed due to the repercussions of the Corona virus, but the responsibilities are still large and the most heated file of course is the attempt to renew Messi's contract, which expires on June 30.

The six-time best player in the world announced on December 27 that he had not decided anything about his future, knowing that he had made a decision to leave the Catalan club last summer before he changed his mind.

The other urgent task is how to pay off the club’s debts in stages, and to discuss the possibility of reducing the players ’salaries.

According to the latest economic study published in late January, Barcelona must compensate an amount of 730.6 million euros until the end of June, in addition to more than one billion euros (1.19 billion dollars) in the long run.

The team has failed to win any title since 2019, and faces exit from the Champions League final eighth round after it fell at home to Paris Saint-Germain 1-4 before the return match next week at the Parc des Princes stadium in the French capital.

However, Barcelona remains a long-standing institution, and the club with the most revenues around the world, with 715.1 million dollars for the 2019-2020 season, according to Deloitte International.

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