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Barcelona : Joan Laporta to contest 2021 presidential elections

By Chiranjib Ghosh

Barcelona - 26 March, Joan Laporta, ex-president of FC Barcelona during the memorial of Johan Cruyff in Camp Nou Stadium, the 26 of march of 2016. (Photo: Guillem Trigueros / Urbanandsport / Nur Photo) (Photo by NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Barcelona - 26 March, Joan Laporta, ex-president of FC Barcelona during the memorial of Johan Cruyff in Camp Nou Stadium, the 26 of march of 2016. (Photo: Guillem Trigueros / Urbanandsport / Nur Photo) (Photo by NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /
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Laporta has thrown his hat in the ring, after Victor Font announces his candidature

BARCELONA, SPAIN – MARCH 26: FC Barcelona’s former president Joan Laporta delivers a speech during a tribute to Johan Cruyff at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain on March 26, 2016. (Photo by Albert Llop/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – MARCH 26: FC Barcelona’s former president Joan Laporta delivers a speech during a tribute to Johan Cruyff at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain on March 26, 2016. (Photo by Albert Llop/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) /

One of the most glorious periods in Barcelona’s history came during the presidency of Joan Laporta. The club won 12 trophies in his 7 years as president, and during the latter stages of his reign, he paved the way for some of the most successful seasons in the club’s history.

The lawyer and eternal Culé, was the first person to pay heed to Johan Cruyff’s theory of youth development, and allowed La Masia to develop brilliant young players and integrated them into the first-team squad.

Laporta was also a frugal spender, unlike his Real Madrid counterpart Florentino Pérez, who signed stalwarts like Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham for huge amounts of money. He signed players like Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o for fees which turned out to be a bargain.

Players like Xavi, Carles Puyol, Víctor Valdés and Andrés Iniesta owe their careers to Joan Laporta. Also, he promoted Pep Guardiola to the role of first-team manager after appointing him to coach the B team a year after his retirement from professional football.

But after a revolt by top club officials in 2008, his power was considerably lessened and Laporta was ousted through a vote of no confidence in 2010, and was replaced by Sandro Rosell, who was to hold the position for 4 years before resigning.

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Rosell’s successor, Josep Maria Bartomeu has failed to reorganise the club and has been an administrative failure. And despite overruling a vote of no confidence, Bartomeu will face tough competition in 2021, when the next presidential elections are scheduled.

Businessman Victor Font has already announced that he will contest the elections in 2021, and has kicked off his campaign on social media, garnering the support of club legend Xavi, who disapproves of Josep Maria Bartomeu.

But Font will be in for a tough challenge, since Joan Laporta has also announced his candidature for the elections. Laporta still has a lot of supporters within the club, and is likely to garner more votes than Victor Font.

But the real competition will be between Josep Maria Bartomeu and Joan Laporta. Bartomeu has cleared out most of Laporta’s executive appointments, and has consolidated his power as president.

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And having run the club’s affairs for 4 years, he has a fair idea about how to win the election. Earlier, he was favourite to retain his position as president but now that Joan Laporta has entered the race, everything has changed.

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